According to a press release from the former, Emirati telco du has extended its strategic partnership with Finnish vendor Nokia in order to expand its 5G network in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The new deal will help Du as it grows its 5G-Advanced network, which will include cutting-edge technologies like edge computing, massive IoT connectivity through reduced capability (RedCap), network slicing, enhanced mobile broadband, and advanced 5G carrier aggregation.
Du also emphasized that these features will guarantee that the network is prepared for the future and able to accommodate new use cases for both enterprise and consumer clients.
Nokia’s 5G AirScale Radio Access Network (RAN) portfolio, which includes baseband, Massive MIMO Habrok radios, and Remote Radio Head products, will be implemented as part of the extended agreement. In line with the carrier’s 2030 net-zero goal, the Arab carrier emphasized that the deployment will increase energy efficiency while meeting the rising demand for 5G services.
“Using Nokia’s 5G portfolio will not only improve the efficiency and flexibility of our network, but it will also allow us to investigate new opportunities and services that can provide real value to our customers and society at large,” stated Saleem AlBlooshi, CTO at du.
According to Mohamed Samir, Nokia Middhe East’s VP of mobile networks, “Du will be positioned as a frontrunner in the 5G services.” Our common goal is to revolutionize network performance through scalable, energy-efficient solutions, opening up new revenue streams for 5G and setting the stage for upcoming advancements that will revolutionize regional connectivity.
In a trial conducted in Abu Dhabi in July, du collaborated with Nokia and MediaTek to increase indoor coverage for premium customers and improve uplink (UL) performance by 70% on du’s 5G-Advanced network.
Du pointed out that by utilizing several frequency bands and cutting-edge transmission pathways, the trial showed notable increases in UL speeds and coverage. According to Du, high-demand applications like video conferencing, live streaming, and large data uploads benefit most from the faster uplink.
The Arab carrier emphasized that the trial used a novel technique that included TDD UL MIMO and three transmitter antennas in conjunction with two-component carrier aggregation (2CC) across FDD and TDD bands. To improve capacity, coverage, and performance, Nokia offered its AirScale portfolio, which included baseband, massive MIMO radios, and macro remote radio heads. MediaTek’s T830 5G mobile FWA platform was also used in the trial.
At a previous 5G-A summit hosted by Chinese vendor Huawei, Abdulla Baghoum, head of technology operations at Du, stated that the company plans to introduce 5G-Advanced (5G-A) technology in Dubai this year.
According to the executive, the telco’s 5G-Advanced plan calls for the technology to be introduced in the major UAE cities by the end of the year and to have nationwide coverage by 2026.
Huawei and the Arab telco recently installed what they say is the Middle East’s first indoor 5G-Advanced (5G-A) network. The Chinese vendor claimed in a press release that this new deployment made use of three carrier aggregation (3CC) technology.
The new indoor deployment expands on Huawei and Du’s prior 5G partnerships. The first widely used indoor gigabit-per-second network in the Middle East was claimed by Huawei and Du in 2021.