Nokia, U.S. Cellular sign multi-year 5G network modernization deal

Nokia has expanded its relationship with U.S. Cellular with the signing of a five-year deal to modernize the company's network by providing its end-to-end 5G technology, software and services solutions.

This will enable U.S. Cellular to deliver innovative services to its customers and expand into new customer and enterprise segments with 5G services and solutions.

The new contract builds upon the 5G trial activities Nokia and U.S. Cellular have been engaged in during the last year. As part of the agreement Nokia will modernize and build out a 5G network for U.S. Cellular across its markets using 5G capabilities compliant with 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) standards.

Mike Irizarry, Executive Vice President and CTO, U.S. Cellular, said: "By keeping U.S. Cellular's network on the cutting edge, we can continue to deliver the innovation our customers demand, gain new customers and add new revenue models - all with a 5G-ready network. With Nokia's end-to-end solutions we will have the ability to launch 5G-based services that will provide massive connectivity and enhanced IoT to our customers."

Ricky Corker, President of Customer Operations for the Americas, Nokia, said: "5G will ultimately deliver unprecedented user experiences and business models that require innovative solutions. We're delighted to continue our work with U.S. Cellular to accelerate 5G development and deployment that will not only provide a multi-fold increase in capacity for its customers, but also deliver 5G coverage."

U.S. Cellular will leverage multiple products across Nokia's end-to-end 5G technology, software and professional services portfolio. Nokia's 5G portfolio is based on its commercial AirScale radio platform and a cloud-based network architecture.

5G promises to enable faster speeds, massive connectivity, decade-long battery life for sensors and super-responsive and reliable networks for customers. This will unleash on-demand virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR) experiences, driverless vehicles, medical monitoring, advanced industrial automation services, and so much more - all requiring ubiquitous low latency connectivity.