Nokia and Ericsson have won 5G telecom equipment deal from KDDI, a leading telecom operator in Japan.

The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications allocated spectrum to KDDI, SoftBank, NTT Docomo and Rakuten in April 2019 in preparation for the 2020 launch of 5G services.

Nokia

KDDI will utilize Nokia’s radio access solution, AirScale, to launch 5G services in Japan in 2020.

Espoo, Finland-based Nokia said its AirScale radio access solution supports both 4G and 5G operations.

Nokia is an existing supplier to KDDI across multiple technologies, including radio, fixed networks, mobile core network and multiple software solutions. The 5G network will also support KDDI across both cmWave and mmWave 5G frequency bands. KDDI engineers can deploy the 5G network in both distributed and centralized architectures.

KDDI that competes with SoftBank and NTT Docomo will deploy the 5G network across Japan and will deliver enhanced Mobile Broadband (eMBB) to consumers and enhanced Machine Type Communication (eMTC) enabling multiple new applications and services for industries in the 5G era.

John Harrington, head of Nokia Japan, said: “As an end-to-end supplier of multiple technologies to KDDI, we look forward to transforming the network and launching 5G for consumers and industries.”

Nokia said it currently has 48 global 5G commercial contracts, including live networks in the US, Latin America, Europe, Korea and Australia. Nokia said all its LTE / 4G customers that announced 5G plans have continued with the company.

Ericsson

Ericsson said it will be the primary 5G vendor for the network deployment in Japan. KDDI will launch commercial live 5G services in March 2020. KDDI aims to have more than 93 percent coverage of 5G base station areas by the end of March 2025.

Sweden-based Ericsson will supply KDDI with Radio Access Network equipment, including products and solutions from the Ericsson Radio System portfolio.

These will allow KDDI to maximize its spectrum assets and enable the service provider to roll out commercial 5G services in several parts of Japan on their sub-6GHz and 28GHz bands for 5G New Radio (NR), said Chris Houghton, head of Market Area North East Asia, Ericsson.

Ericsson is behind Huawei and Nokia in terms of 5G network deals.