Wireless Networks

Following the recent announcement that Nokia and AT&T Mexico have deployed what they call the first industrial-grade LTE private network in a maritime terminal in the country, there’s been another private network announcement in Latin America – this time in Brazil and using 5G.

Bangladesh operators Robi Axiata and Teletalk Bangladesh, along with infrastructure group Summit Towers, have entered into a tri-party agreement for sharing existing network infrastructure.

MTN Nigeria and Ericsson have announced what they call a ‘historic milestone’ with the launch of 5G services in a number of areas of the country.

Brazilian newcomer Winity Telecom has signed a six-year deal with Amdocs to support its deployment of 4G and 5G networks across remote rural areas of Brazil.

Telefonica Moviles (Movistar) has commenced its rollout of a 5G-ready network in El Salvador.

Uzbekistan’s state-owned mobile provider Mobiuz has begun offering 5G services in areas of Tashkent.

The private network concept isn’t waiting for 5G, as Nokia and AT&T Mexico have just shown by deploying what they call the first industrial-grade LTE private network in a maritime terminal in the country.

In what is said to be a first for Africa, Nokia says it has successfully piloted 4G and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) network slicing with Kenyan mobile operator Safaricom on its live commercial network.

Zain Bahrain, a leading telecommunications operator in Bahrain and part of the mobile voice and data services group that has a commercial footprint in seven Middle Eastern and African countries, has said that it has deployed the “most innovative Internet of Things (IoT) technology” in collaboration with Ericsson.

All six of Malaysia’s main mobile network operators have now reportedly agreed to take up equity in a state-controlled 5G wholesale provider, Digital Nasional Berhad (DNB).

Nokia has announced that it has successfully completed testing of voice and data calls over what it says is the world’s first 4.9G/LTE private wireless network to support European Train Control System (ETCS) Level 2 Signalling.

Veon subsidiary Banglalink has signed a tower sharing agreement with BTCL (Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited).

Further tower sales are afoot across Southeast Asia, with Indonesia’s Telkomsel and the Philippines’ PLDT each agreeing to shift more sites.

Azerbaijan operator Azercell, the leading operator in the market, says it has launched a large-scale project to expand coverage and increase the capacity of its 4G LTE network across the country.

Indian tech firm Jio Platforms has partnered with Optiva for an end-to-end 5G solution for global markets that aims to accelerate the monetisation of 5G services and use cases.

Some seven months after going into insolvency, and nearly four months after being saved from receivership by Singapore-based IoT solutions firm UnaBiz, Sigfox, the supplier of a proprietary narrowband technology designed specifically for IoT, has launched in South Africa.

Huawei has deployed over 100 5G-ready base stations for MTN Nigeria as the operator gears up to launch a commercial 5G offering from 24^th August.

Day four of the Indian 5G spectrum auction is drawing to a close, and we hope to have a clearer idea of the winners and losers by early next week. But in the meantime 5G testing is continuing, with Vodafone Idea (aka Vi) now involved in a pilot project run by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI).

MTN Sudan has signed a 10-year network as a service (NaaS) contract with NuRAN Wireless, a supplier of mobile and broadband wireless infrastructure solutions, for the deployment of rural mobile infrastructure in Sudan.

Niger’s Zamani Telecom has completed a wide-ranging upgrade of its 4G TD-LTE network.

Claro, the second – and only other – network in Guatemala after Tigo, has claimed a 5G launch not long after its rival. This week it has launched 5G operations with initial coverage in parts of all of Guatemala's 22 departments (or administrative divisions).

Another major communications deal involving india’s oil industry has been announced as broadband satellite and managed network services provider Hughes Communications India (HCI) says it has been chosen to deploy and manage a software-defined wide area network (SD-WAN) for Indian Oil Corporation Ltd (IOCL) across its 10,800-site retail enterprise network.

Mobile network expansion is in the news again, with Vodacom in South Africa and Telkom in Kenya announcing plans to invest in better coverage.

Tigo Guatemala, part of the Millicom stable of operators, has activated what it claims to be Guatemala’s first 5G network, at the Experience Centre in Cayalá, a purpose-built private city with a focus on housing, dining, shopping, entertainment and business, on the outskirts of the capital Guatemala City.

Operator AT&T Mexico and vendor Nokia have announced that they are collaborating to bring the benefits of 5G to Mexico.

Brazil has seen its first Standalone (SA) 5G networks go live in the capital Brasilia, with Claro, TIM and Vivo all launching their networks after receiving government approval.

Lenovo, which claims the world’s widest portfolio of technology products, and operator Etisalat UAE are planning to build a new 5G edge solution. This, they say, will enable the rapid roll-out of 5G connectivity for a wide range of edge-of-network deployment scenarios.

Brazilian capital Brasilia is to lead the way in the country’s 5G rollout with the launch of  a 3.5GHz 5G network on Wednesday 6 July.

While government and industry in another major economy, India, are still debating how and when to enable private 5G networks, in Brazil steel producer Gerdau and Embratel, a major player in both voice and data communication, have already announced an agreement to roll out a dedicated 5G and LTE private network.

China Mobile-backed Pakistani operator Zong has partnered with ZTE to implement a dual-band (1800MHz and 2100MHz) FDD Massive MIMO upgrade on its 4G network.

Chilean operator Entel claims to have extended its 5G coverage to all regions in the country, with the deployment currently 83% complete.