Nokia (NOK) Powers Mobily's Network With 4G/5G FWA Network Slicing

Nokia Corporation NOK recently announced that it has teamed up with Mobily, a Saudi Arabia-based telco, in a concerted effort to conduct the first-ever trial run of 4G and 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) network slicing over the live commercial network of the latter. Notably, the Finnish telco is the first vendor to unveil this technology. As part of the collaboration, Mobily has capitalized on Nokia’s AirScale 4G/5G base stations along with its NetAct solution, which is a field proven network management system that supports network elements in Wi-Fi, telco cloud, public safety along with mobile radio and core.

Moreover, it harnessed the technological innovations of Nokia’s Digital Operations software, routers and Network Services Platform to enhance the network coverage and aid service providers by unlocking new business opportunities in a competitive market. It is worth mentioning that the latest move complements Nokia’s commitment to implementing an advanced 5G ecosystem for its customers.

Nokia is focused on four strategic priorities. The first is leading in high-performance end-to-end networks with its service provider customers. The second priority is to expand network sales to select vertical markets, specifically energy, transportation and webscale players. Building a strong standalone software business is the third priority. Lastly, creating new business and licensing opportunities in the consumer ecosystem.

Markedly, the pilot run was conducted in Riyadh and leveraged best-in-class assurance capabilities with sliced access, transport and core networks in a multi-vendor environment. This unique combination will enable Mobily to segregate its network and applications, including home office applications and online gaming, into multiple layers to capture more market segments with accretive users. In fact, network slicing is an advanced technology where slices of network are developed on the basis of use cases to deliver leading-edge services.

Specifically designed to support 5G Non-Standalone, 5G Standalone and LTE networks, Nokia’s slicing solution has been seamlessly configured into Mobily’s existing network and optimizes the spectrum for improved connectivity. Further, Mobily utilized third-party customer premises equipment products and Nokia’s FastMile 4G/5G FWA gateway to maximize mobile broadband connectivity. Notably, Nokia’s AirScale base stations are considered as the best platform for this trial as they can maximize the cell throughput while addressing the future requirements of IoT and 5G connectivity.

Interestingly, Nokia and Mobily have been sharing an active working relationship for quite some time now. The Finnish telco equipment vendor had partnered with Mobily to support the latter’s infrastructure with its 5G end-to-end portfolio to establish an ultra-high bandwidth and low-latency network while bolstering digital transformation of the Middle East country. Driven by these developments, the recent move is expected to not only reinforce the long-standing relationship of both the companies but also benefit Mobily’s prime consumer and enterprise customers with premium FWA services on the back of network resource allocation mechanisms.

Nokia’s shares have gained 2.7% compared with the industry’s growth of 41.3% in the past year. This Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock delivered a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 37.5%, on average.

Some better-ranked stocks in the industry are Comtech Telecommunications Corp. CMTL, Qualcomm Incorporated QCOM and Sonim Technologies, Inc. SONM. While Comtech sports a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), Qualcomm and Sonim carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Comtech delivered a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 2%, on average.

Qualcomm delivered a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 17.3%, on average.

Sonim delivered a trailing four-quarter positive earnings surprise of 2.2%, on average.

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