Nokia wins 5G order for three markets

Finnish telecom gear maker Nokia said on Monday it had won a 5G network order from A1 Telekom Austria Group for operations in Bulgaria, Serbia, and Slovenia.

“The multi-country single vendor deal will see Nokia provide 5G RAN solutions from its comprehensive AirScale portfolio to all three markets and 5G Standalone core network to Serbia and Slovenia,” it said.

What is 5G?

While previous cellular networks focused on mobile phones, 5G promotors say its greater transmission speed and total bandwidth will allow a ballooning number of objects such as traffic lights, crop equipment, refrigerators and other household appliances to send and receive data.

One of the biggest innovations that 5G is expected to enable are self-driving cars, because it can virtually eliminate latency — the time it takes to get a response to information sent over the network.

But self-driving cars will need 5G networks to cover large areas and mobile communications industry body GSMA, which represents 800 operators worldwide, estimates 5G will account for just 15 percent of total global mobile connections in 2025.

Lower latency could also help revolutionise multiplayer mobile gaming, factory robots, telemedicine and other tasks demanding a quick response — all areas where today’s 4G networks struggle or fail.

Industry impatient

Industry in particular is looking forward to 5G to reinvent manufacturing and allow it to monitor all sorts of processes.

While augmented reality and robotics are already becoming a part of everyday life in many industries, 5G has the potential to enable newer, faster production methods.

For example by using wearable technology such as augmented reality glasses in the assembly line, workers will have more information at their fingertips, potentially resulting in higher productivity.

Specialists talk of “Industry X.0”, an ongoing industrial revolution as businesses embrace and profit from constant technological change.

But governments will first need to harmonise standards for the award of so-called 5Gmillimetre-wave spectrum, which will carry the vast data flows needed to power connected robots and other industrial uses for the technology.