Nokia hit the ground running in 2022 with the news that it has picked up more 5G network deals from long-standing partner Tele2.

The Sweden-based operator announced on Tuesday that it has selected Nokia as its 5G radio network access (RAN) partner in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, meaning that the Finnish vendor has become its key 5G vendor throughout the Baltics.

Tele2 previously revealed that Nokia is its primary partner for 5G core networks in the standalone era, with deployment expected to have started during 2021. Nokia said it will deploy standalone 5G core and voice-over-5G technology for Tele2 operations in Sweden, Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.

Figure 1: Build it: Nokia is taking a leading role in building 5G networks for Tele2 in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
(Source: Tele2)

Ericsson is also providing 5G RAN equipment to Net4Mobility, the network joint venture of Tele2 and Telenor in Sweden, after the JV booted Huawei out of its 5G rollout project.

Ramping up 5G

Tele2 already provides 5G services to customers in Sweden under the Tele2 and Comviq brands.

The operator said it now has everything in place to begin a nationwide rollout of 5G and upgrade of 4G in Latvia following the completion of the country's 700MHz spectrum auction in December 2021. It also holds frequencies in the 3.5GHz band. Tele2 competes with Bite and LMT in Latvia.

However, 5G spectrum auctions have yet to take place in Estonia and Lithuania.

In Estonia, a sale of 3.5GHz licenses is expected to take place in the first quarter of 2022 following protracted negotiations at government level. Estonia is home to three mobile network operators: Telia, Elisa and Tele2. Nokia recently won a 5G RAN deal from Elisa Estonia, while Telia Estonia has already launched 5G using dynamic spectrum sharing technology from Ericsson.

Want to know more about 5G? Check out our dedicated 5G content channel here on Light Reading.

In October 2021, the Communications Regulatory Authority of the Republic of Lithuania (RRT) announced plans to auction 700MHz frequencies for 5G networks. The deadline for the submission of applications is January 25, 2022.

Three blocks will be offered at the auction: one 2x10MHz and two 2x5MHz blocks from the 713-733MHz and 768-788MHz radio frequency bands. The initial price is €5 million for the 2x10MHz and €3 million for the 2x5MHz blocks.

As well as Tele2, Telia and Bite provide mobile services in Lithuania. Telia Lithuania, which is phasing out Huawei RAN equipment and has entered into a strategic partnership with Ericsson to modernize its mobile network and rollout of 5G across the country, has already been testing 5G using frequencies provided by the regulator.

Related posts:

— Anne Morris, contributing editor, special to Light Reading