Nokia completed its first 5G standalone (SA) call on a live network with China Unicom.
The data and voice calls, which marked firsts for Nokia on a 5G SA network, were completed earlier than planned, occurring within 25 days of Nokia software deployment.
Nokia deployed its Unified Data Management, Shared Data Layer (5G Unified Data Repository), and Cloud Mobile Gateway (from its Cloud Packet Core portfolio) for the 5G Session Management Function and User Plane Function. This was complemented by Data Refinery charging and NetAct network management, with all products deployed in the cloud using the Nokia CloudBand cloud infrastructure and management solution.
Nokia CBIS is an open, scalable, vendor-agnostic platform that is enabling software deployment across China Unicom’s existing multi-vendor hardware.
Markus Bochert, President of Nokia Greater China, said: “Nokia has skillfully managed both the overall project and technical components during these unprecedented times, which has been crucial to the speed and success of this deployment that will provide our customers with fast, modernized network management features.”
Bhaskar Gorti, President of Nokia Software and Nokia Chief Digital Officer, said: “We are very proud to reach this key milestone with China Unicom, which illustrates that the transition to 5G standalone networks can be completed rapidly – regardless of existing hardware; and that is part of what makes Nokia Software products distinct.”
Nokia wins 10% share of China Unicom’s 5G core
Nokia has been awarded an approximately 10% share of China Unicom’s 5G core network.
The Nokia Cloud core products that China Unicom selected provide Unified Data Management, Session Management and User Plane functions, and are complemented by Data Refinery and NetAct, all deployed on Nokia’s CloudBand.
Unified Data Management, a critical function with the arrival of 5G and the evolution to cloud architecture, manages all subscriber data and services efficiently and cost effectively. The Session Management Function is a fundamental element of the 5G Service Based Architecture, primarily responsible for interacting with the decoupled User Plane Function as well as subscriber session management. The User Plane Function delivers the packet processing foundation for the Service Based Architecture, by allowing packet processing and traffic aggregation to be performed closer to the network edge, thereby increasing bandwidth efficiencies while reducing costs.
The deal also includes products from Nokia’s Cloud Packet Core portfolio, including the Nokia Cloud Mobile Gateway. The product provides the 5G standalone Session Management Function and User Plane Function, in addition to supporting the 4G Serving Gateway and the Packet Data Network Gateway in China Unicom’s network.
“Nokia is very proud to expand our working relationship with China Unicom beyond 4G. We are looking forward to close collaboration with China Unicom on novel business models and 5G service innovation to enable an open 5G ecosystem,” stated Markus Borchert, President of Nokia Greater China.
Nokia noted that it currently has a 17% market share in China Unicom’s rapidly expanding VoLTE network, where it has deployed Nokia’s cloud-based vIMS platform.
