TAIPEI – Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd. (CHT) has selected Ericsson (NASDAQ: ERIC) to provide the 5G platform to support its future network. Taiwan’s largest telecom service provider will deploy a non-standalone (NSA) New Radio (NR) network on mid and high-frequency bands. It will use Ericsson Radio System base stations and Ericsson’s 5G Core, including 5G Evolved Packet Core, with Ericsson selected as the supplier for 5G Core.

Building on a partnership that began with 4G, this new deal includes voice services through Ericsson’s Cloud VoLTE solutions, improving network efficiency and ensuring a flexible voice service experience. Ericsson will also provide the fronthaul and IP backhaul transport solution using Fronthaul 6000 and Router 6000 products to support C-RAN architecture – infrastructure that will help CHT with a smooth evolution to 5G.

Max Chen, President of the Mobile Business Group, Chunghwa Telecom, says: "In the process of upgrading to 5G networks, we need to shorten the time it takes to launch new features.

Ericsson's 5G core solution enables our 4G core to flexibly evolve into a shared 4G/5G network. Meanwhile, Ericsson’s Cloud VoLTE solution will allow our customers to enjoy a more convenient and higher quality 4G voice service today as well as 5G voice services in the future."

Chafic Nassif, President of Ericsson Taiwan says: "Our enhanced 5G platform perfectly suits CHT’s needs to quickly launch new services to the market. This cooperation will serve to not only provide Taiwanese consumers and enterprises with the highest quality communication services but also accelerate the overall progress of 5G development in Taiwan.”

Advanced functionality to optimize user experience
Ericsson's 5G platform for CHT will include Ericsson Radio System base stations that will operate on 3.5GHz for the mid-band and 28GHz for the high band. The 5G solution will also include active antenna products while supporting beam-forming functions that reduce wireless signal interference and improve 5G speed. In addition, CHT will benefit from increased system capacity and improved 5G user experience through 4G/5G dual connectivity and LTE-NR DL data aggregation functions. The solution will also enable more effective management of data traffic, simplified operations, and innovative applications, such as network slicing and edge computing.

With Ericsson Spectrum Sharing solution, Chunghwa Telecom can make full use of spectrum resources to accelerate 5G network coverage and promote the smooth, efficient, and flexible transition of the network to 5G.

Ericsson's 5G core solution will support both 4G and 5G core networks to smoothly connect CHT's previous services to 5G. Other advanced functionality includes automated capacity management and a high-performance user plane control that can meet the needs of 5G usage while providing an open application program interface.

Ericsson Orchestrator will also allow for more efficient management of core, access and transport networks, as well as the automatic management of the network slicing function – enabling users to reduce the time to launch 5G services from weeks to hours.

Chunghwa Telecom has been working with Ericsson on 5G technology since 2017. The two companies are jointly developing 5G enterprise applications and support government policies to promote industrial transformation.

Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC)
Chunghwa Telecom Co. Ltd. (NYSE: CHT)

In a separate release:

Nokia today announced that it has been selected as 5G RAN vendor by Chunghwa Telecom.

As the leading mobile operator in Taiwan, Chunghwa Telecom is ready to address the 5G market with the best band combination for consumers as well as enterprise demand. Supporting Chunghwa Telecom’s ambitious plans, Nokia is responsible for 5G radio network deployment in the Central and Southern Region of Taiwan.

Nokia will work closely with Chunghwa Telecom to ensure it will take the lead for providing 5G services in the country. Nokia will leverage Chunghwa Telecom’s existing LTE install base and rich spectrum resources to launch 5G non-standalone (NSA) involving multiple bands, paving the way to 5G standalone (SA) in the near future. With Nokia’s deploy services, which form part of the deal, network evolution can be brought up to speed faster. The deployment will also see the network benefitting from Nokia’s latest 5G “Powered by Reefshark” solutions.

The rollout is already underway, as Chunghwa Telecom targets July for the launch of its 5G services, including 4K and VR.

Nokia has been working with Chunghwa Telecom since 1973 in developing fixed network infrastructure in Taiwan. In recent years, it has worked closely with Chunghwa Telecom in preparing the operator for 5G, including 5G technology verification, interoperability and development testing (IoDT), as well as use case demonstrations ranging from consumer applications to enterprise scenarios.

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, said: “Our technology will assist Chunghwa Telecom in its early launch of 5G services in Taiwan, while also allowing it to explore new revenue generators across consumer and enterprise markets. As one of the pioneering members of Chunghwa Telecom’s Taiwan 5G Alliance, we will jointly promote the digital transformation for public and private sectors to accelerate 5G momentum in Taiwan.”

Max Chen, President of Chunghwa Telecom Mobile Business Group, said: “The transformation empowered by Nokia’s 5G technology will undoubtedly revolutionize the way we interact with the world. Chunghwa Telecom is committed to delivering industry-leading 5G to its consumer and enterprise customers, and we have every confidence in Nokia delivering this in a quick and reliable rollout.”

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK)