Nokia secured a three-year deal to upgrade Airtel Kenya networks, a move that laid foundations for a commercial 5G rollout in the capital of Nairobi.
In a statement, Nokia said it deployed hardware from its comprehensive AirScale portfolio in June, upgrading existing 2G, 3G, and 4G RAN in; urban, semi-urban, highways, tourist spots, and central business districts. The vendor said its hardware is “future-proofed” and enables Airtel to “smoothly transition to 5G when necessary”
“The improved network will provide higher data speeds using additional 4G spectrum bands and provide access to secure, high-speed and reliable data services”, Nokia said.
P. D. Sarma, Airtel Kenya chief said: “We are in the midst of rolling out our network to enhance coverage along with modernization of our data network that will help us to deliver improved, high-speed data services to our customers. This will allow our customers seamless coverage enhancing their browsing experience further. We are excited to partner with Nokia on this project. Its technology portfolio improves our network quality considerably and also allows us to move to 5G services in the future.”
Rajiv Aggarwal, Nokia head of central, east, and west Africa said: “This is an exciting deal in an exciting market. We are proud to supply Airtel Kenya with our comprehensive AirScale portfolio and support the operator with its efforts to deliver the best possible connectivity experiences to end-users in Kenya. In a maturing market, we look forward to helping Airtel execute its strategy in the short-term as well as set it on the path to 5G services.”
