Nokia has signed a five-year deal with AT&T to deploy the mobile operator’s C-Band network to boost its 5G business in parts of the U.S.
Nokia’s C-Band portfolio includes support for both 5G standalone (SA) networks and non-standalone (NSA) networks, cloud-based implementations and Open RAN products, providing AT&T with flexibility for its 5G deployment.

Nokia’s C-Band RAN technology will interwork with existing Nokia LTE RAN equipment deployed by AT&T for a powerful user experience.

“AT&T is committed to bringing the power of 5G to businesses and communities across the nation, and our C-Band deployments with Nokia will help add 5G capacity where it’s needed,” Igal Elbaz, senior vice president of Wireless and Access Technology AT&T said.

AT&T earlier said its 5G network covers 230 million Americans in 14,000 cities and towns and AT&T 5G+ is now available in parts of 38 cities in the U.S.

AT&T secured 80 MHz of spectrum and 29 percent share of the available licenses during the recent C-band auction. AT&T plans to deploy this mid-band spectrum starting at the end of this year and into 2022 and beyond.