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Nokia, a Finnish network equipment maker, and AT&T, a US telecom operator, have inked a multi-year expansion agreement to improve AT&T’s voice carriage and 5G network automation in the US. The announcement was made on Tuesday by Nokia.
This agreement comes one year after Nokia’s big loss of a contract to Ericsson (ERICb.ST), a Swedish telecom provider, which AT&T picked at the tail end of 2023 to construct a network that would handle 70% of its US wireless traffic by late 2026.
In September, Nokia and AT&T signed a smaller five-year deal to create a fibre network in the US. On Tuesday, they locked a second deal for cloud-based voice core apps and the use of Nokia’s network automation software. This followed AT&T’s $14 billion five-year deal with Ericsson.
“This is an important deal for Nokia, reinforcing the strong and longstanding relationship between Nokia and AT&T, and covering multiple years and technologies that will enable new 5G functionality,” said Raghav Sahgal, Nokia’s head of Cloud and Network Services, in an email to Reuters.
Nokia stated that upgrading AT&T’s core network would allow for new voice services, including the use of AI and machine learning. The companies chose not to disclose the deal’s worth.
“We are pleased to continue our relationship with Nokia to further optimise our network operations and enable new services that better support our customers’ evolving needs,” stated Yigal Elbaz, Senior Vice President of AT&T’s Technology & Network Services.
