Mexico's ALTAN Redes Picks Nokia for national LTE wholesale Net

Nokia announced that it has been selected by the ALTÁN Redes consortium to design, build and operate a new national LTE and 5G-ready wholesale network in Mexico in what represents its largest contract to date in Latin America.

Called Red Compartida, the shared network project in Mexico is an innovative program designed to provide wireless broadband coverage nationwide to 92% of the population, and thereby reduce the digital divide and strengthen the country's digital services capabilities. The greenfield deployment will utilise the 700 MHz frequency band.

The contract with Nokia includes provision of the core of the network, including 100% of the fully virtualised core network and 40% of RAN, IP backhaul, OSS and NOC solutions. The Nokia equipment is to be deployed in five regions of Mexico, out of a total of nine, including Guadalajara and Monterrey, the second and third largest cities.

The project also encompasses a range of services that mean Nokia will deliver a turnkey project, including site acquisition, construction, deployment, network integration, network planning and optimisation, master system integration (core network), operation and maintenance and managed services.

Nokia will specifically supply solutions including a virtualised core network, VoLTE and EPC based on Air Frame, 4.5G Pro radio access based on AirScale, IP and optical backhaul systems, DWDM 100 Gbit/s and IP routing platforms for aggregation, and microwave transmission platforms.

The Red Compartida project is a public-private international partnership led by the Mexican Ministry of Communications and Transport (SCT) and the Office for the Promotion of Investments in Telecommunications (PROMTEL), in coordination with the Federal Institute of Telecommunications (IFT). The project is expected to involve a total investment of over $7 billion over nine years, financed by international and local investors.

ALTÁN Redes is a new wholesale carrier supported by international investors and Mexican shareholders that won the tender process to build and operate the shared network which will support the delivery of mobile and Internet services for existing mobile operators and existing and new MVNOs.

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