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Nokia reportedly replacing Huawei in favor of O-RAN technology at DT sites
Nokia is reportedly replacing Huawei equipment from the DT (Deutsche Telekom) sites in Germany via the O-RAN (Open RAN) technology. The Finnish company plans to introduce the new radio access network architecture to 3000 sites.
In recent times, many foreign telecom companies including BT Group put back Huawei over other network equipment. It is so because the UK, the U.S., and other regions believe that Chinese network mechanisms consist of high-risk components.
Besides, the foreign authorities claim that companies like Huawei and ZTE might have imposed such elements on their tech products that can transfer confidential data to the Chinese government. Even though Huawei denied all these allegations, it was pushed behind the sanction bars.
Following the ban, Nokia is now replacing Huawei from the DT sites in Germany for O-RAN technology. Another reason for pulling out the Chinese tech maker from Deutsche Telekom sites is that it has refused to join the O-RAN Alliance for facilitating network services.
As of now, DT has begun experiments with O-RAN technology to boost the network operators’ efficiency. Notably, DT removed Nokia in 2018 for Ericsson’s Open RAN tech. But by the end of 2023, Deutsche Telekom designated Nokia as the primary supplier, which marked the re-entry of the Finnish firm.
O-RAN technology (Credits: LightReading)
Statements:
The head of Nokia’s smartphone business group – Tommi Uitto says:
“We won this flagship deal with Deutsche Telekom in Germany to replace some of their installed base with Huawei. It is 3000 sites of replacement, plus then there would be new sites, in one part of the network in Germany.”
On the other hand, the Chief Marketing Officer of Huawei’s Carrier Business Group – Philip Song depicted:
“We think there are still some problems – the first one is power efficiency and the other one is performance. Yet, there is a lot of collaboration between the radio part and the baseband part, and joining together can provide good network performance. When it comes to power amplifiers used in radios, Huawei remains one generation ahead of competitors.”
It is visible that the removal of Huawei equipment from scratch not only leads to extreme expenses but also time consumption. Yet, the UK hopes for economic growth with the help of other network equipment and facilities.