Japan's NTT DOCOMO deploys Nokia's Open RAN-compliant 5G AirScale portfolio

Nokia's high-performance fully Open RAN-compliant, AirScale portfolio is being deployed in Japanese operator NTT DOCOMO's commercial multi-vendor network, the Finnish firm announced on Monday.

"Nokia is fully committed to Open RAN and is helping its customers fulfill their Open RAN objectives. We have taken steps to ensure that our industry-leading radio access portfolio can seamlessly integrate and interoperate with products from other suppliers. Together with our ecosystem of partners, we are providing more choice and higher performance in Open RAN solutions to our customers than they will see from other RAN suppliers. We are excited to continue this journey with our long-term partner, NTT DOCOMO, and help them achieve their objective of delivering open networks," said Mark Atkinson, Head of RAN at Nokia.

Nokia’s high-capacity, high-performance 5G AirScale baseband solution including Centralized Unit (CU) and Distributed Unit (DU) software enables DOCOMO to pursue a multi-supplier strategy, giving them the option to connect with Open Radio Units (RU) delivered by other suppliers. Powered by the latest ReefShark System-on-Chip technology, Nokia’s low-power, energy-efficient AirScale portfolio will also support the operator's sustainability objectives whilst delivering operational cost savings.

The partnership will see Nokia deploying its fully O-RAN-compliant 5G AirScale baseband solution in DOCOMO's commercial network nationwide. With the deployment of the O-RAN-compliant 5G network, the two companies are taking their strategic collaboration and partnership to the next level.

"Nokia’s O-RAN compatible AirScale 5G Baseband solution is extremely competitive and is capable of being connected to any O-RUs on NTT DOCOMO's 5G commercial network. Its high performance and low power consumption will also reduce our operational costs and support our sustainability goals," said Masafumi Masuda, General Manager of Radio Access Network Technology Promotion Office, NTT DOCOMO, INC.

The deployment confirms Nokia's industry leadership through its anyRAN approach that aims to build future-ready radio access networks (RANs) together with an ecosystem of industry partners to unlock collaborative advantage. It is designed to give mobile operators and enterprises more flexibility in building networks that combine purpose-built, hybrid, and Cloud RAN environments with common software.