Tag: Nokia


Philippines moves up in global internet speed rankings

Mobile and internet speed in the Philippines has improved considerably, according to a latest speed test report by internet metrics site Ookla.

Ookla’s latest Speedtest Global Index Report revealed that mobile speed in the Philippines has moved up seven places to rank 77th globally, whereas fixed broadband speed jumped fifteen places to rank 65th globally.

As of now, the average mobile download speed is 31.98 Mbps, whereas average fixed broadband speed is 58.73 Mbps.

Although both numbers are still below the global average, the Philippines’ improvement in global rankings can be attributed to fiber internet expansion efforts by major telecom players Globe, Smart, and DITO Telecommunity. Most recently, Globe inked a three-year deal with Nokia to upgrade and expand its 5G and 4G networks at over 1,000 sites across the Philippines.

Globally, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has the fastest mobile speed at 194.04 Mbps, whereas Philippines’ ASEAN neighbour Singapore has the world’s fastest fiber internet speed at 250.35 Mbps.

Image Credit: Open Grid Scheduler/Flickr

Nokia unveils new data centre switching solution to support colocation and cloud hosting

Finnish smartphone manufacturer Nokia announced the launch of 7220 Interconnect Router (IXR), a brand new data centre switching solution for cloud colocation and hosting operations.

The 7220 IXR is a solution that comprises Nokia’s network operating system, SR Linux, and NetOps, a development toolkit that automates and improves the efficiency of data centre network operations. With the 7220 IXR, data centres are able to conduct data centre switching more smoothly, as well as handle peering traffic needs in data centres.

Steve Vogelsang, CTO and head of strategy for Nokia’s IP and Optical Business, said that the new solution will also be able to power and accelerate the services of next-generation technologies such as 5G, IoT, and AI.

“Data centre hosting and colocation providers increasingly need open data center switching solutions that scale to support growing business needs and integrate easily into their existing data center operations,” he added.

Scott Brookshire, CTO of Energy Group Networks, parent company of international colocation provider OpenColo, said that their company will be deploying Nokia’s 7220 IXR in its data centre colocation and hosting operations.

“Nokia and its SR Linux was an easy choice. We wanted a solution that was extensible, open, supported telemetry and gNMI, and was provided by a company that transforms networking both on the hardware and software side,” he noted.

“We [appreciate] that Nokia builds and supports its hardware, so we have a single vendor to manage and work with should we ever run into problems.” Mr. Brookshire continued.

Nomination Window: 1st June – 31st July

The W.Media Asia Pacific Cloud & Datacenter Awards is the region’s flagship awards programme, recognising achievements and excellence across all mission critical technology sectors. We are opening the awards to organisations four regions and nineteen categories to encompass the entirety of APAC’s Cloud & Datacenter ecosystem.

Is there a team, project, or individual who you believe has made outstanding contributions to the industry this year? Find out more about how to submit your nomination here.

 


Nokia expands 5G footprint in the Philippines

Nokia has reached a three-year deal with Globe Telecom to upgrade the latter’s existing 4G network and expand the geographical reach of its 5G network at over 1,000 sites in the Philippines.

This is following Nokia’s collaborations last year with various Filipino partners, including Smart Telecommunications to launch Internet of Things (IoT) services and Equinix to bring next-generation edge architectures to the country.

As Nokia is an existing partner of Globe Telecom, the 5G project will begin as early as Q2 2021 in the second and third largest islands of the Philippines and is expected to complete in 2023, offering customers superior network speeds, capacity, and lower latencies while reducing complexity.

“It’s exciting to be part of this project to deliver 5G services to citizens across the Philippines and see our industry-leading 5G RAN solutions underpin the network,” said Tommi Uitto, president of Mobile Networks at Nokia.

After Nokia’s Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING) services, its cloud-native, Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that enables a smooth upgrade to 5G has been adopting in the country since last October, the deployment of the current 5G project includes the provision of equipment and services from Nokia’s comprehensive 5G AirScale portfolio to build out the Radio Access Network (RAN), including base stations and other radio access products.

Globe Telecom will also use Nokia’s high-capacity AirScale massive MIMO Adaptive Antenna solution to boost coverage and performance and NetAct solution for network management and seamless daily network operations.

“We’re pleased to continue our partnership with Nokia to deliver compelling 5G experiences to our customers,” said Ernest Cu, President and CEO of Globe Telecom. “We are going full steam ahead in delivering 5G in more areas, as this technology brings us closer to our goal of providing #1stWorldNetwork in the Philippines.”

In the same month, Globe Telecom has also announced its collaboration with roaming ally and Thailand’s largest telecom operator, Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS), to launch 5G roaming service in Thailand in an attempt to expand its cross-border offerings in key markets in Asia, Middle East, North America, and Europe.


Nokia continues 5G, cloud partnership with Japan’s SoftBank

Nokia has announced that Japanese telecommunications conglomerate SoftBank has selected their 5G Core software to enable the launch of Softbank’s standalone 5G services.

Nokia’s 5G Core is developed around cloud-native and DevOps principles, which is expected to benefit SoftBank users by delivering higher connectivity, scalability, and bandwidth, all with lower latency.

“Nokia 5G Core’s near-zero-touch automation capabilities, high-level operational efficiencies, scale and performance will help SoftBank deliver advanced services and experience, and boost network reliability,” said John Lancaster-Lennox, Head of Market Unit Japan at Nokia.

SoftBank will also be leveraging two of Nokia’s cloud offerings, Cloud Mobility Manager and Cloud Mobile Gateway, to support the company’s 5G rollout.

“We are pleased to be expanding our relationship with Nokia as we enable fast and reliable 5G service for our subscribers. This 5G core solution will catapult us into the next phase of our 5G transition,” said Keiichi Makizono, Senior Vice President and CIO of SoftBank.

The new partnership will aim to support new use cases, virtual and augmented reality, fixed wireless access, video surveillance and analytics, cloud robotics, and connected vehicles.

By Jie Yee Ong, Tech Reporter

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Image Credit: The Bruneian


Nokia partners with Smart for IoT development in the Philippines

Philippines’ Smart Telecommunications has chosen Nokia as its partner to launch Internet of Things (IoT) services across the country.

Nokia will provide Smart with its Worldwide IoT Network Grid (WING) services, its cloud-native, Software as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that enables a smooth upgrade to 5G.

“The Nokia WING IoT Platform solution bolsters our capability in solving our customers IoT-related requirements quickly and helping them get to market faster and with greater scale,” said Jovy Hernandez, ePLDT President and CEO, and SVP and Head for PLDT and Smart Enterprise Business Groups.

Smart will be able to leverage Nokia’s WING solutions to deliver automated, real-time control features across its IoT deployments.

“Nokia’s technology helps us to maintain PLDT’s leadership position and assist our customers in maximizing the potential of IoT services.” he added.

Nokia also recently announced a partnership with Equinix to bring next-generation edge architectures and services to market, particularly as 5G is expected to increase the need for edge data centers.

Smart is changing the digital landscape in the Philippines 

A subsidiary of Philippine conglomerate PLDT Group, Smart has been upgrading its telco offerings to support the Philippines in its digital transformation journey. Besides teaming up with Google to deploy Wi-Fi hubs nationwide, in September, Smart became the first to roll out commercial 5G in the country.

“We are excited to work with Smart on this deal that will deliver superior experiences to their customers. IoT services are increasingly becoming a necessity as part of any operators’ digital transformation strategy,” said Ankur Bhan, Head of Nokia’s WING Business.

Smart is also promoting digital literacy in the public sector: in early October, the Philippine Air Force selected the domestic telecommunications giant to train its officials to counter rising cyberthreats as a result of the pandemic.

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