Espoo, Finland – Nokia today announced that it has been selected by A1 Telekom Austria Group (A1) to extend its 5G footprint outside of Austria into 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. The deployment is already underway in Bulgaria and is expected to start imminently in all other markets. 

Nokia is already providing comprehensive 5G coverage across Austria and will evolve its strategic partnership with A1 with this expanded deal. Nokia will provide equipment from its AirScale portfolio including 5G RAN and other Nokia AirScale radio access products which will deliver incredible speeds, connectivity, and capacity to their subscribers.

Nokia’s cloud-native 5G Standalone Core software leverages machine learning and artificial intelligence and will enable near zero-touch automation capabilities for A1 in Serbia and Slovenia to drive greater scale and reliability. Nokia’s open 5G Standalone Core architecture will also give A1 the flexibility to be responsive to market demands while controlling costs at a time of growing network complexity by streamlining operations and unlocking crucial capabilities, such as network slicing.

Nokia will support A1 in their efforts to cover all major populated communities as well as main roads within the next 5 years. The rollout will also offer innovative new services to consumers as well as vertical industries such as Industry 4.0. A1 is committed to continually improving and expanding its network infrastructure to maintain its position as market leader.

Nokia is a long-standing partner of A1 and had worked collaboratively to introduce 3G and 4G mobile networks as well as Austria's largest fiber-optic network and multiple private wireless campus installations.

Alex Kuchar, Group Director Technology & Future Services at A1 Telekom Austria Group said: “As we take steps towards the introduction of 5G in these new markets it is imperative we have the best network infrastructure to offer our customers commercial 5G services that delivers all the technological advantages and benefits of 5G. We are therefore pleased to continue our partnership with Nokia and I looked forward to working collaboratively with them to deploy market-leading digital services on this multi-market project.”

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks, Nokia, said: “We are delighted to have been selected by A1 Telekom Austria Group to support their rollout of our AirScale 5G RAN and core technology across Bulgaria, Serbia and Slovenia. They continue to place their trust in our technology and are committed to delivering best-in-class services to their subscribers around the world. We look forward to working collaboratively with them moving forward.”