Zain Jordan has selected Nokia in a multi-year deal to supply 5G radio access network (RAN) equipment throughout the country. Through the deal, says Nokia, Zain will be able to support the digital transformation of the country by offering superior 5G services with enhanced connectivity and capacity to customers. A major part of the deployment is expected to be completed during 2023.
Under the deal, which totals over 3,000 sites nationwide, Nokia will provide the latest generation of its AirScale baseband, massive MIMO radios, and remote radio head products. These are all powered by its energy-efficient ReefShark system on chip (SoC) technology and combine to provide superior coverage and capacity, says Nokia. In parallel to deploying 5G, Nokia will also modernize Zain’s existing 4G infrastructure.
Nokia says its RAN products are inherently future-proof: for instance, Nokia radios from 2012 onwards can be upgraded to 5G by software, accelerating 5G rollouts. Nokia RAN also combines the efficiency of single RAN supporting 2G, 3G, 4G and 5G and the flexibility of cloud RAN and open RAN.
Nokia says AirScale radios integrate the very latest design innovations and technology such as passive intermodulation (PIM) cancellation that enables high performance at all times and all without the need for additional hardware. This integrated feature is also found in the company’s multiband radios.
Introduced in 2018, ReefShark chipsets leverage in-house silicon expertise to dramatically reduce the size, cost and power consumption of operators' networks and meet the massive compute and radio requirements of 5G.
Nokia has a long-standing partnership with Zain across several territories, including Saudi Arabia.
According to 2022 estimates, Zain Jordan serves some 3.7 million customers, maintaining its market leadership. The country’s population is estimated at 10.5 million.
