Nokia and Ericsson Extend 5G Deals with T-Mobile US

Ericsson and Nokia made multi-billion dollar deals signed with T-Mobile US to continue expansion of its 5G network. The operator seeks to improve the coverage, capacity and capabilities of its latest offering. The vendors highlighted the importance of their respective five-year deals and roles in improving the operator’s 5G network.

Under an extended contract, Nokia will supply products from its AirScale radio access platform, providing what it describes as an ultra-capacity 5G layer using Massive MIMO on the operator’s 2.5GHz mid-band spectrum. The vendor added it would also use macro and small cells to improve service delivered over low and mmWave bands.

Ericsson said deployment of its active and passive antennas would support 5G connectivity across the operator’s spectrum ranges, pointing to the potential of Massive MIMO over mid- and high-bands to provide high speeds and low latencies, providing an expanded foundation for a rapid 5G use-case evolution.

T-Mobile US described both deals as being multi-billion-dollar in value. President of technology Neville Ray said the agreements with its longstanding 5G partners will allow it to deliver better experiences for their customers for years to come.