Georgian telecoms service provider Cellfie Mobile has announced that Nokia has won an expansion deal to upgrade its 4G network and introduce 5G-ready network services.
The deal, which covers the whole country, will enable even more of Cellfie’s customers to experience super-fast broadband services with full coverage and capacity, says Nokia.
Nokia adds that its 5G-ready AirScale portfolio will also help Cellfie to launch 5G services following the successful outcome of a spectrum auction, which is due to take place in August.
Under the deal, Nokia will supply equipment from its comprehensive 5G AirScale portfolio powered by its energy-efficient ReefShark System-on-Chip (SoC) technology. The deal will include the latest generation of AirScale Baseband, and Remote Radio Head (RRH) products. Nokia will modernize and upgrade existing sites with LTE networks as well as add new 5G-ready sites. Following the country’s 5G spectrum auction, Nokia will also introduce new 5G 3.5 GHz sites.
Cellfie, a long-standing partner of Nokia, will also utilize Nokia’s intelligent MantaRay Network Management system to enable a consolidated network view for improved network monitoring and management, enhanced with built-in AI functionalities.
Deployment is expected to begin from November. Nokia is the sole RAN supplier in the deal, increasing its market share in the country.
Formerly known as Beeline and owned by Russia’s Veon, the company that is now Cellfie Mobile was sold last year to Khvicha Makatsaria, a Georgian businessman and a former minority shareholder in Beeline Georgia.
According to its website, today Cellfie Mobile serves more than 1.3 million customers. The present population of Georgia is estimated at 3.6 million.
