• Nokia Radio Access Network (RAN) and Contela's Core solutions were used to complete South Korea's first RAN and Core interoperability trial for private 5G networks 
• The interoperability trial allows Nokia and Contela to jointly develop the private 5G market by providing new and diverse choices to customers

Seoul, South Korea – Nokia and Contela today announced the completion of Korea's first interoperability trial between SME (small and medium enterprise) Core and global Radio Access Networks (RAN) for private 5G at Nokia Korea's Private 5G Open Lab (e-Um 5G Open Lab). The interoperability trial enables Nokia and Contela to advance the private 5G market in Korea by providing a diverse selection of core networks for private 5G network solutions. Successful completion of the interoperability trial allows enterprises to opt between Nokia's industrial-grade Core or Contela's optimized core solution, depending on their unique requirements. The two companies will work closely to develop the private 5G ecosystem in the country. 

Nokia Customer Premise Equipment (CPE), RAN and Contela's core solutions were used to conduct the interoperability trial which demonstrates the harmony between Nokia and Contela's solutions. 

Earlier this year, Nokia and Contela had announced a collaboration to provide private 5G network solutions to Korea's public sector companies. 

Dr Soon Park, CEO of Contela, said: "We are pleased with the successful completion of the interoperability trial using Nokia RAN and Contela core solution. The trial will further advance the growing private 5G ecosystem in the country and will provide new solutions and applications to our customers in line with their requirements. Nokia technical leadership coupled with our proven expertise will accelerate the development of South Korea's private 5G market." 

Josh Lee, Customer Team Head of Enterprise at Nokia, said: "The successful completion of the interoperability test enables us to offer diverse and advanced Industry 4.0 solutions for private 5G deployments. The interoperability between our RAN and Contela's core solution allows us to offer more options to the enterprises thus enabling them to leverage the benefits of 5G to gain a business edge. We are looking forward to inviting local players to our private 5G Open Lab for the development of the private 5G ecosystem in Korea."