One of Africa’s largest 4G rollouts as Nokia upgrades Orange radio access network to enhance mobile broadband for over 60 million subscribers in seven countries
Nokia and Orange Middle East & Africa are rolling out a Nokia single radio access network and network management technology across seven African countries in a three year modernisation project to prepare for the launch of 4G services. To facilitate the deployment Nokia has set up a dedicated West and Central Africa Support Centre for Orange.
In one of the largest LTE rollouts in Africa, Nokia will modernise around 11,000 radio sites in Egypt, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Senegal, Mali, Guinea-Bissau and Niger. Using Nokia’s Single RAN technology and modernization services, Orange will be able to support existing 2G and 3G subscribers while enhancing speeds and coverage as it launches 4G services.
With deployment underway, Orange has already lowered operational costs and launched new 4G services in Egypt, Ivory Coast, Cameroon, Mali, Senegal and Guinea-Bissau. The company is also enhancing 3G service with an average 85% increase in throughput, and is experiencing a 90% increase in traffic across the seven countries.
From the dedicated Orange support centre in the Ivorian capital, Abidjan, Nokia is leveraging its expertise to deliver full set of services, including alarm, performance and configuration monitoring, as well as corrective actions on the radio installed base, while speeding implementation and optimizing the network to ensure more than 60 million Orange subscribers experience consistent high quality service.
As part of the deal, Nokia Care Services ensure that service level agreements are met, thus ensuring flawless communications. In addition, the Nokia NetAct network management system will allow Orange to maintain network efficiency, stability and performance. The support centre will also serve as a gateway for the future introduction of advanced solutions and technologies serving IoT, smart cities and other use cases in Africa.
Yasser Shaker, CTIO, Orange MEA, said: “We needed to ensure a smooth evolution of our network while launching 4G in all countries where it was possible and Nokia was the best partner to pave that way.”
Jean Marc Vignolles, COO, Orange MEA, said: “We are committed to enriching the lives of our subscribers by providing innovative technology solutions. With Nokia’s proven technologies we can realize new efficiencies as we enhance coverage and the subscriber experience.”
Amr El-Leithy, head of the MEA market for Nokia, said: “We have a longstanding relationship with Orange in Africa and are thrilled to take this relationship to the next level with this agreement. Our proven technology and services will enable Orange to proactively manage the data explosion and develop new revenue streams. Orange will also be able to offer new services that take advantage of enhanced broadband speeds to enrich the subscriber experience.”
