The American mobile operator will deploy the 5G SA network across its five million customer network to deliver high speeds and low latencies and power new applications including virtual and augmented reality.
According to Nokia, by implementing the 5G SA core UScellular will be able to “unlock the full potential of 5G” and leverage the cloud-native, open modular structure to “rapidly introduce and scale future network functions”.
Mike Irizarry, chief technology officer at UScellular, said: “As we deploy 5G SA core, Nokia brings expertise, technology excellence and the right mix of hardware, software and services to meet our requirements for high performance and low latency.”
UScellular’s deployment of Nokia’s 5G core adds to its collaboration across the Radio Access Network (RAN) where Nokia is supplying AirScale radios for both low-band and mmWave 5G.
Ed Cholerton, president of Nokia North America, said: “We are thrilled to be selected by UScellular to deliver a full 5G experience to its customers. Our 5G SA core and 5G radios provide not only new capabilities, scale, operational efficiencies, and revenue opportunities, but drive a far better user experience that customers expect. Working with UScellular to provide the core network function software and cloud infrastructure continues our momentum in the North American standalone 5G core market.”
Nokia’s 5G SA core is a cloud-native architecture with network functions deployed as microservices that can be moved to the network edge to meet low latency requirements for software-driven services, like network slicing. Globally, Nokia has already deployed more than 70 5G SA core networks.
