Charter taps Nokia for targeted 5G network deployment

Nokia says it has notched its first "large-scale" wireless 5G deal with a cable operator after signing up Charter Communications to use the vendor's "AirScale" equipment portfolio for its targeted 5G network deployment.

Financial terms weren't announced, but Nokia said the Charter deal includes 5G RAN gear, baseband units and newly developed strand-mounted CBRS (Citizens Broadband Radio Service) small cells. Nokia said Charter will use its 5G gear to deliver mobile traffic in "strategic locations" across the operator's 41-state footprint. The early work between Nokia and Charter has centered on the cable operator's deployment of CBRS spectrum in one unnamed market that's being used for a blueprint for deployments to additional areas.

Nokia's win at Charter comes about three years after Charter came away with more than 210 CBRS licenses for about $464.25 million. Charter completed the buildout of its mobile core network in the first quarter of 2022.

"Incorporating Nokia's innovative 5G technology into our advanced wireless converged network will help us ensure that Spectrum customers in areas with a high concentration of mobile traffic continue to receive superior mobile connectivity, including the nation's fastest wireless speeds," Justin Colwell, Charter's EVP, connectivity technology, said in a statement.

It's not immediately clear how much of Charter's targeted 5G rollout ultimately will go to Nokia. Samsung connected with Charter on a set of 4G and 5G trials a few years ago but that work has yet to turn into any announced commercial deals.

Charter in 'no rush' to deploy CBRS spectrum

Charter, which ended Q1 2023 with nearly 6 million mobile lines, is expected to deploy its CBRS spectrum broadly in high usage areas that can generate the best return on investment. However, CEO Chris Winfrey stressed recently that Charter is "not in a rush" to roll it out because of the benefits it's continuing to see from its MVNO pact with Verizon.

Charter, which is already leaning heavily on Wi-Fi to offload the bulk of the wireless traffic generated by its Spectrum Mobile customers, has also expressed interest in other spectrum, including the 3.1GHz-3.45GHz, 7GHz and 37GHz bands.

Like Charter, Comcast is also exploring targeted CBRS deployments. Comcast announced last fall it will use Samsung radios for its 5G build in select, high-traffic areas. Comcast followed that with an announcement earlier this year that it will roll out Nokia's 5G Stand Alone Core networking software to support Comcast's deployment of CBRS and 600MHz spectrum.

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— Jeff Baumgartner, Senior Editor, Light Reading