[caption id="attachment_5569" align="alignnone" width="300"] Nokia AirScale base station: solar panel, power distribution module, radio antenna system and remote radio head[/caption]

Nokia CEO Rajeev Suri said the telecom operator has signed 37 5G commercial contracts including 20 with named customers including T-Mobile, AT&T, STC, and Telia.The comments assume significance because Huawei, the main rival of Nokia, is banned by the United States. Huawei cannot source components for its future 5G and other telecom network products without the approval from the Donald Trump administration.

“We are leading the 5G market. We are winning 5G deals and rolling out some of the world’s first 5G networks. In pretty much every network where Nokia products are deployed, we are the performance leader,” Rajeev Suri said at the company’s annual general meeting in Helsinki, Finland.

The 5G-driven spending cycle that is now building momentum supports Nokia’s end-to-end, full-portfolio strengths. Consequently, end-to-end sales as a percentage of sales pipeline are now at the highest point ever.

Nokia’s strategy is to lead in high-performance end-to-end networks for operators, expand to select vertical markets that need high-performing secure networks, build a strong standalone software business and create new licensing opportunities.

Nokia CEO revealed that it will undertake efforts to eliminate, by July 2019, any statistically significant pay gap in the company that cannot be explained by factors such as performance, experience, job grade, or location.

Nokia recently launched the liquid-cooled base station, emitting 80 percent less CO2 than previous generations of products.

Nokia in January warned of a soft start to 2019 before a better second half for its 5G mobile network technology.

The telecom networks industry faces slowing demand since 4G network sales peaked in the middle of the decade but a new cycle of network upgrades appear to be kicking in as demand for 5G services increases.

Nokia in 2018-end restructured its mobile network business focusing on winning more 5G network deals. Nokia has replaced Marc Rouanne, Nokia’s head of mobile networks, with the appointment of Tommi Uitto, an expert in radio technologies. Nokia earlier lost Ilkka Rahnasto head of its patent business.

Nokia has secured a 500 million euro or $572 million loan from the European Investment Bank to step up development of next-generation 5G technology.

Source: telecomlead.com

[caption id="attachment_5566" align="alignnone" width="300"] MWL 2019 Qualcomm Lenovo Limitless 5G[/caption]

Lenovo and Qualcomm unveiled what they described as the first 5G computer powered by a Snapdragon processor, although it is not set to hit the market until 2020.

Debuted at Computex in Taiwan under the banner “Project Limitless”, Johnson Jia, SVP of the PC business group at Lenovo said: “With real 5G in a PC, it’s all about satisfying users’ need for speed: faster file transfers and streaming in 4K, 8K and even AR/VR; faster and higher quality video chats on-the-go; even faster screen refreshes for mobile gaming.”

Qualcomm has been touting its concept of always connected PCs for several years now, with a range of vendors having brought products to market supporting the technology. To date, these have used LTE networks for connectivity.

And while much has been made of the potential of 5G to drive connectivity across form factors, so far smartphones and Wi-Fi hotspots have led the way.

Ahead of the launch, Miquel Nunes, senior director of product management at Qualcomm Technologies, told Mobile World Live: “The capacity improvements, the latency improvements, are going to change the way people use PCs. You have a network without any boundaries.”

He expects the new device to appeal to markets including enterprises, attracted by the flexibility such devices can offer.

“Enterprises today are typically confined to a building or campus. This removes those boundaries: you can work from anywhere and have the same access you would on a local network on a remote network,” he continued.

Project Limitless is powered by Qualcomm’s 8cx platform, which the company said is “the world’s first 7nm platform purpose-built for PCs that offer 5G connectivity”.

It uses the US company’s X55 5G modem, and also includes an X24 LTE modem for areas beyond 5G coverage.

Source: mobileworldlive.com

[caption id="attachment_5560" align="alignnone" width="300"] Airtel Tanzania[/caption]

The planned IPO of Bharti Airtel’s African unit moved a step closer, as the company filed formal papers with the London Stock Exchange.

According to documents submitted to the National Stock Exchange of India, which presides over Bharti Airtel’s primary listing, the approval process with UK authorities is already underway. It is also mulling a second listing of its African shares in Nigeria.

The company plans to use the proceeds, estimated by Reuters to be at least $1 billion, to cut debt.

Airtel Africa operates mobile services in 14 countries across Africa with each market also offering mobile money services, though some of its finance divisions are in partnership with other operators or banks.

In a statement reported by Times of India, Sunil Bharti Mittal, chairman of Bharti Airtel, said the subsidiary was in a strong position to “build its own capital market profile”.

CEO of the unit Raghunath Mandava added the company had great potential to grow both its telecommunications and payment businesses across its existing markets.

Listing of Airtel’s Africa division has been expected for some time, with the company announcing its intent last year and subsequently making a number of statements on the issue.

Last year its Africa unit raised a total of $1.25 billion in a funding round from six investors, at the time it said the cash would be used to cut its $5 billion debt pile.

Earlier this year the company raised a further $200 million from the Qatar Investment Authority.

Source: mobileworldlive.com

MTN Ghana has announced a partnership with the International Federation of Skate Soccer (IFSS), to organise a skate soccer league in Ghana. According to the organisers, it is designed to provide clarity on intricate product details and focus on the desired promise to customers, in alignment with the brand.

Skate Soccer is a truly exciting sport and the first of its kind. The sport is played by physically challenged individuals especially polio survivors.

The main focus of this is to get the physically challenged off the streets and better their lives. Skate Soccer create an environment that gives opportunity to the physically challenged to showcase their talent in the game of soccer while brightening their lives.

In this game, polio survivors sit on a slightly larger skateboard and play association football. The ball is controlled by their hands and the rules are very similar to regular association football. Brands that have been leveraging this Event are Binatone, who is the main sponsor supported by some of the Radio and TV stations.

The event, according to MTN, will provide a platform to interact, motivate and reward its existing and potential subscribers through sales activities, brand engagements, public relations activities and CSR.

Source: ghanaiantimes.com