Nokia said on Tuesday it has completed what it says is the first deployment of shared 5G Standalone (5G SA) indoor coverage in Saudi Arabia in a proof-of-concept pilot with Mobily, Zain KSA, neutral host specialist ACES NH and the Communications, Space & Technology Commission (CST).

The proof-of-concept pilot – in which Nokia deployed its Shikra radio portfolio and Multi‑Operator Core Network (MOCN) – uses sharable indoor spectrum on the 4.0-4.1 GHz band and active sharing techniques.

Nokia said this enables every mobile operator in Saudi Arabia to deliver gigabit-level 5G inside low to medium traffic buildings through a single, cost-optimized system, eliminating the need for duplicate equipment and 4G anchors while cutting deployment costs by more than 60%.

Driving the need for the solution, Nokia said, is the expectation of mobile data traffic per smartphone to escalate from 29 GB per month in 2024 to around 54 GB per month by 2030, with about 80% of that usage likely to be generated indoors.

Supporting that demand with conventional distributed antenna systems typically requires dedicate separate hardware and spectrum for each operator, which is expensive and eats up more electricity.

Using sharable indoor spectrum on the 4.0-4.1 GHz band in combination with 5G SA active sharing enables fair access for all operators while accelerating coverage in business districts, giga‑projects, and public venues, Nokia said.

Meanwhile, early cost modelling by Nokia and ACES indicates a further 47% saving when 4G anchoring is removed, which makes 5G SA “greenfield indoor” sites commercially viable from day one.

“Sharable indoor spectrum gives stakeholders a powerful new tool to boost indoor 5G adoption without complex auctions or spectrum refarming,” said Mikko Lavanti, senior VP for mobile networks, MEA at Nokia.