Ooredoo inks five-year agreement with Nokia

Ooredoo Group has selected Nokia to bring multiple technologies and services, including 5G, to customers in the MENA and Southeast Asia as part of a multi-country, five-year deal.

The deal, which builds on Nokia’s global partnership with Ooredoo, will see Nokia expand Ooredoo’s existing network, as well as introduce new 5G services. The deployment is already underway and is expected to be completed by 2026 in all these countries.

Ooredoo will deploy equipment from Nokia’s latest AirScale RAN portfolio on sites across North Africa and Southeast Asia delivering 5G services, such as mobile video, to consumers across different spectrum bands. The deal also includes digital deployment services supporting a faster time to market as well as technical support services. Nokia will also provide its cloud-native Core software to give Ooredoo zero-touch automation capabilities that will drive greater scale and reliability.

Nokia’s optical solutions will ensure expansion and applications flow for Ooredoo’s state-of-the-art optical network without constraint.

Commenting on the deal, Aziz Aluthman Fakhroo, Managing Director of Ooredoo Group, said: “This renewed contract is testimony to our growing partnership with Nokia to modernise and expand our network by rolling out world-class 4G and 5G services across North Africa and Southeast Asia. Thanks to Nokia’s advanced technology, our customers will be able to experience faster speeds and enhanced response times as well as more bandwidth.”

Pekka Lundmark, President and Chief Executive Officer at Nokia, added: “We are excited to continue delivering robust networks to Ooredoo’s customers. This new five-year deal will accelerate the benefits of Nokia’s technology – including 5G – for consumers in the Middle East, North Africa and Southeast Asia and will enable businesses to digitalise and innovate with new services. The move to 5G will drive radical transformation across industries, communities and public services and we are proud to continue supporting Ooredoo Group on this journey.”