Nokia, known as a mobile phone giant for over a decade, continues to show up – this time during the on-going MWC event in Barcelona, announcing a bundle of things that includes relating to 5G ready networks, huge fund raise for Internet of Things, and acquisition of a network security firm called Nakina.
While the latest from the Finnish telecom equipment maker is about 5G infrastructure which is already under trial, the company expects commercial 5G services to be available by 2020. As far now, this doesn’t look so interesting if you we consider many markets which even lack 4G/LTE services but you must notice that all of the future technologies, services, devices and applications come to fit in its place sooner or later.
Nokia shows how operators can test 5G use cases in their networks using all spectrum bands, including sub-6 GHz for wide area coverage and early market entry, with cmWave and mmWave providing very high communications capacity.
Nokia’s 5G access system covers a broad range of spectrum allocations that are able to deliver more than 20Gbps, unlocking the potential of new frequencies for multi-Gbps wireless access. Innovative forms of multi-connectivity boost service robustness and consistency, all while 5G is introduced on top of LTE.
Hossein Moiin, CTO of Nokia Mobile Networks, said: “This is the industry’s first demonstration of how 5G will work in practice, going beyond previous experimental systems. We are showing 5G live on our commercial AirScale radio access product – it’s a major advance because it means that 5G is no longer a distant vision. Now operators can invest with confidence in network equipment that will support both existing and 5G technologies when they are standardized.”
Acquisition of Nakina
On the other hand Nokia plans to acquire Canadian software firm Nakina Systems (“Nakina”), to reinforce its position in security at a time when customers are bolstering their defenses to cope with the increasing demands of hyper connectivity, new regulations and emerging technologies. The companies previously had a five-year partnership where Nokia used Nakina’s software in several customer projects.
Bhaskar Gorti, President of Applications and Analytics at Nokia, said:
The planned acquisition of Nakina is another example of the steps we are taking to build security and privacy into our networks from the beginning. As seventy percent of all security breaches originate from privileged insiders, Nakina gives us the ability to address a rapidly increasing threat for our customers.
Mary O’Neil, CEO of Nakina Systems, said:
Nakina bridges the security and operational gaps between the promise of cloud networks and operational realities of running high performance heterogeneous networks. With this deal, our customers will benefit from Nokia’s scale, leading expertise and investment scope for software and applications.
In another announcement Nokia Growth Partners (NGP) today disclosed the closing of a new USD 350 million fund for investments in IoT companies. The fund is sponsored by Nokia and will serve to identify new opportunities to grow the ecosystem in IoT solutions. The fund IV commitment brings NGP’s total assets under management to over USD 1 billion, including USD 500 million available for new investments.
