Nokia selected by Taiwan’s Chunghwa Telecom for 5G network expansion

Finnish telecoms gear maker Nokia said it has been selected by Taiwanese telco Chunghwa Telecom (CHT) to expand the latter’s 5G network in the country.

Nokia said it will deploy products from the AirScale portfolio, including base station and radio access products as well as massive MIMO radios to deliver improved connectivity to users and businesses in the southern and central regions of the country.

Additionally, Nokia will continue its long-term vendor partnership with Chunghwa Telecom with ongoing support for 5G coverage, network optimization and Cloud RAN transformation.

Through this partnership with Nokia, CHT said it aims to achieve 80% population coverage as well as to increase 5G subscriptions to over 20% of its current subscribers base.

The expansion, which supports Chunghwa Telecom’s aim to accelerate 5G rollout this year, focuses on high traffic areas, as well as locations with high business demand, including metropolitan cities, universities, subways, high-speed rail stations, industrial parks, and exhibition halls, and over 120 highly populated tourist hotspots, according to an official statement.

CHT is also looking to further expand its enterprise footprint by enhancing its 4G/5G coverage as well as deploying private network solutions.

CHT will strengthen its cooperation with leading local manufacturers for industrial 4.0 applications using solutions in 3.5GHz and 28GHz spectrum to meet the high throughput requirements.

“Supporting our enterprise and individual customers through advanced 5G services is an important focus for Chunghwa Telecom… Nokia continues to be a trustworthy and hard-working partner for Chunghwa Telecom throughout our journey,” said Alex C.C. Chien, President of Mobile Business Group, Chunghwa Telecom Co., Ltd.

“The Taiwan mobile market is highly competitive, driven by an expectation for innovative and high-quality services demanded by subscribers. Next-generation networks are enabling the types of immersive and productivity-driven mobile services that Taiwanese people expect, so we are excited to support Chunghwa Telecom by expanding its 5G network,” said Mark Atkinson, SVP, Radio Access Networks PLM at Nokia.