#MWC19: Nokia accelerates 5G roll out with launch of Fixed Wireless Access FastMile 5G Gateway

• Nokia's FastMile 5G Gateway delivers 10-25x the speeds of LTE to residential and business subscribers 
• Optus trialing the FastMile 5G indoor gateway in a live network to simultaneous stream multiple 4K video services to select residential customers in Australia
• FWA expected to grow by approximately 50 percent to 27.5 million households by 2022

February 24, 2019 

Espoo, Finland - In advance of Mobile World Congress 2019, Nokia is introducing a new FastMile 5G Gateway that allows operators upgrading their LTE network to capture new Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) revenue and accelerate 5G rollouts.  Nokia's FastMile 5G Gateway uses the same sub-6GHz 5G that operators will use to upgrade their LTE grid, providing broader coverage of FWA and enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB) services.

Expected to grow by approximately 50 percent from 18.5 million to approximately 27.5 million households by 2022, FWA technologies are increasingly being used by operators to open new business opportunities and monetize new services. 5G will play a critical part in the delivery of new broadband access services and is anticipated to become 16 percent of all FWA technology deployed by 2022.1  

To help operators capitalize on this growing market segment, Nokia's FastMile 5G solution delivers a single, indoor device that is easy to deploy and can connect wirelessly to the mobile network.  

• The gateway brings gigabit speeds to homes using 3GPP compliant 5G New Radio (NR) 
• With carrier aggregation, the gateway improves performance and reliability by using the best 4G and 5G signals available 
• The plug-and-play solution is simple to install and uses a visual guide to help customers identify the right location in the home that will achieve the best performance 
• Compatibility with Nokia's in-home WiFi solution ensures a seamless ultra-broadband experience is achieved in every corner of the home 
• The FastMile 5G Gateway maximizes spectral assets and uses the industry's highest gain (11dBi) antenna to deliver up to twice the indoor coverage, three times the downlink capacity and five times the uplink capacity compared to traditional designs 

Over the past year, Nokia has significantly expanded its portfolio of ultra-broadband technologies to include a range of FWA solutions for the home, including 4G LTE, unlicensed 60 GHz Wireless PON and now 4G and 5G indoor solutions. Nokia is currently trialing its FastMile 5G Gateway with service providers like Optus which recently used Nokia's FastMile 5G  indoor gateway in a live network to stream 4K video services to select residential customers in Australia. 

Allen Lew, Chief Executive Officer at Optus, said: "Nokia's FastMile 5G Gateway plays an important role in our overall plans to launch a commercial 5G fixed-wireless access service that is capable of dramatically enhancing wireless broadband performance in homes across the country.  With Nokia's solution, we are able to effectively leverage our existing mobile footprint to quickly provide new ultra-broadband services to customers using 5G FWA.  We are committed to continuously improving 5G service capability for our customers and are excited about working with Nokia to continue identifying future use cases for the technology as we evolve our networks."

Julie Kunstler, Principal Analyst at Ovum, said: "5G-based FWA enables service providers to bring ultra-broadband to homes and businesses. However, well-designed solutions, such as Nokia's FastMile 5G Gateway, support subscriber-side installation, thereby bypassing expensive truck rolls and service calls, while ensuring superb customer experiences. 5G FWA is becoming an important ultra-broadband tool for all types of operators as bandwidth and QoE expectations continue to grow."

Sandra Motley, President of Nokia's Fixed Networks Business Group, said: "Nokia is leading the way in 5G fixed wireless access with solutions that help operators bring ultra-broadband access to more people sooner. Our FastMile solution helps accelerate 5G roll outs and brings all the benefits of 5G into the home to deliver a better user experience." 

Nokia is a global leader in 5G  with  the industry's only end-to-end portfolio that is available globally. With more than 70 trials underway, our 5G solutions, software and services allow our customers to take early advantage of the promise of this next generation of mobile technology. Learn more about Nokia 5G. 

To see Nokia's FastMile 5G Gateway solution, visit the Nokia Experience Center in Hall 3, stand 3A10 at Mobile World Congress, Fira Gran Via, in Barcelona, Spain from 25 to 28 February 2019. https://www.nokia.com/mwc.  

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