
Nokia and Vodacom have signed an MoU under which the companies will trial Nokia 5G to accelerate its launch in South Africa. Nokia has a 5G portfolio that it claims will allow operators to gain an early-to-market advantage in the delivery of ultra-fast mobile broadband services at multi-Gigabit speeds and low latency. Working with Vodacom in workshops and trials, Nokia will share 5G innovations including massive MIMO Adaptive Antennas, AirScale Radio Access, AirGile Cloud-native Core, Multi-Access Edge Computing, and Mobile Anyhaul transport networks.
Initially, the companies will focus on the delivery of Ultra-HD and virtual reality video services. Vodacom and Nokia will also collaborate on applying 5G in vertical industries important to South Africa, including manufacturing, mining, medicine, media, energy and transportation. Nokia will use expertise from its Bell Labs Consulting arm to work with Vodacom on 5G.