Vodafone Hutchison Australia (the operator of the Vodafone brand in Australia) has announced this morning its partnership with Nokia to build its 5G network in Australia, with the promise of the first 5G services arriving early in 2020.
Vodafone’s Chief Executive Officer, Iñaki Berroeta, said the new partnership paved the way for VHA to deliver 5G to its customers.
“This is an exciting milestone in Vodafone’s 5G network rollout,” he said.
“We have worked with Nokia for several years across different elements of our network. They presented a compelling roadmap that aligned with our 5G objectives and will help us to continue improving our 4G network for our customers.Their knowledge of our network is extensive, and they are in the best position to ensure a seamless transition and that we reach our 5G goals as soon as possible while maintaining the best experience for our 4G customers.”
The first Vodafone 5G sites will be in and around Parramatta (in western Sydney) in coming months. These sites were used as part of the Vodafone / Nokia test network, but will now become the first commercial 5G sites on Vodafone’s network.
Federico Guillén, President, Customer Operations EMEA & APAC at Nokia, said Nokia was pleased to be further strengthening its relationship with Vodafone Hutchison Australia.
“We are delighted to be working closer with Vodafone Hutchison Australia on transforming its network to deliver superior 5G services to its customers,” he said.
We started our 5G journey with Vodafone in 2016 and are now moving from trials to reality. Nokia’s end-to-end portfolio has a key role to play here, with this deal including 5G radio access network (RAN), IP/Optical, Microwave, deployment and managed services, as well as software.”
Vodafone will take a measured approach to 5G rollout, looking at demand, feasibility and cost to prioritise sites and rollout schedules. The agreement with Nokia allows Vodafone to order new sites at will, allowing Vodafone to change pace as demands require.
Here is Voda with a non-Huawei network. If TPG started a Huawei based network, would it matter?
Networks can can collapse for a number of reasons. As I write this, all three mobile networks are out of action on the south coast of NSW due to bushfires. Musk’s satellites or Google’s Loon balloons could have got around this. That’s the future. Having a variety of different networks is the answer.
Well said.
Wonder if this will affect the planned integration with TPG? Or is that all over?
Its currently in the courts with the ACCC opposing it. Decision due in the early part of this year.