Reliance Jio partners up with Nokia to expand 5G services in India

As 5G services are getting rolled out in India, the country's two major carriers, Bharti Airtel and Reliance Jio, are gearing up to expand their 5G services to every nook and corner of the country. Reliance Jio is partnering up with Nokia for its 5G equipment portfolio.

Reliance Jio launched its 5G services in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, and Varanasi earlier this month. The company has promised that it is going to increase its 5G footprint city by city on an ongoing basis, month after month.

Under the contract, Nokia will supply 5G Radio Access Network (RAN) equipment from its AirScale portfolio. This also includes base stations, high-capacity 5G Massive MIMO antennas, and Remote Radio Heads (RRH) to support different spectrum bands, and self-organizing network software.

Reliance Jio Chairman, Akash Ambani said:

“We are pleased to be working with Nokia for our 5G SA deployment in India. Jio is committed to continuously investing in the latest network technologies to enhance the experience of all of its customers. We are confident that our partnership with Nokia will deliver one of the most advanced 5G networks globally.”

Jio has over 425 million customers in India and has one of the largest RAN footprints in the world. In India, Jio is the only operator that has 700 MHz low-band spectrum, which will allow it to feature deep indoor coverage.

Nokia's president and CEO Pekka Lundmark said:

“This is a significant win for Nokia in an important market and a new customer with one of the largest RAN footprints in the world. This ambitious project will introduce millions of people across India to premium 5G services, enabled by our industry-leading AirScale portfolio.

We are proud that Reliance Jio has placed its trust in our technology and we look forward to a long and productive partnership with them.”

Nokia has won several contracts around the world for its 5G equipment. In the UK, Nokia had signed a deal with BT to become its largest infrastructure partner. The Finnish company had also signed a $3.5 billion deal to deploy 5G in partnership with T-Mobile in the United States.