UScellular selects Nokia for 5G SA core

UScellular selected Nokia for its standalone 5G core network. Deployment expected to be completed by the end of 2022. Financial terms were not disclosed.

UScellular’s deployment of Nokia’s 5G core adds to its existing support for the Radio Access Network (RAN) where Nokia is supplying its AirScale radios for both low-band and mmWave 5G.

Ed Cholerton, President of Nokia North America, said: “We are thrilled to be selected by UScellular to deliver a full 5G experience to its customers. Our 5G SA core and 5G radios provide not only new capabilities, scale, operational efficiencies, and revenue opportunities, but drive a far better user experience that customers expect. Working with UScellular to provide the core network function software and cloud infrastructure continues our momentum in the North American standalone 5G core market.”

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U.S. Cellular awards 5G contract to Samsung

U.S. Cellular awarded a contract for 5G and 4G LTE network solutions to Samsung Electronics. Financial terms were not disclosed.

“We are excited at the prospect of working with Samsung to extend groundbreaking 4G LTE and 5G technology to our customers, expanding what is possible in consumer experiences and business applications,” said Mike Irizarry, Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer, U.S. Cellular.

“We look forward to this new collaboration with U.S. Cellular, a key provider of mobile services to millions of customers across the U.S.,” said Mark Louison, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Networks Division, Samsung Electronics America. “As our latest network solutions become a larger part of the U.S. market, we are excited to advance Samsung’s 5G innovation and leadership, and continue our journey in delivering new communications technologies, including 4G LTE and 5G.”

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U.S. Cellular plans its first 5G at Iowa and Wisconsin

U.S. Cellular announced that its first 5G rollouts will be in Iowa and Wisconsin, beginning in the first quarter of 2020. The company’s initial 5G deployment will be on its 600 MHz spectrum and will provide customers with faster data speeds, a more responsive mobile experience and the ability to connect more devices to the network at the same time.

“Iowa and Wisconsin are two of our largest markets and we’re excited to introduce 5G technology to customers in both urban and rural communities where other carriers have not,” said Michael S. Irizarry, executive vice president and chief technology officer of U.S. Cellular. “Broader 5G coverage will provide our customers with even faster data connection speeds for a better experience when they do the things they love on their devices.”

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Amdocs wins 5 year Digital Transformation Project with US Cellular

U.S. Cellular selected Amdocs for a turnkey project to transform customer digital care and commerce experiences over its Web and mobile channels. Financial terms were not disclosed.

This partnership supports U.S. Cellular’s commitment to deliver world-class digital experiences to its customers, unified across care, commerce and Web and mobile channels, while simplifying operations and reducing costs.

Under the 5-year contract, Amdocs will deliver the project in an agile approach, enabling U.S. Cellular to quickly add new capabilities in short iterative cycles. In addition to back-end capabilities, Amdocs will provide front-end portal design, leveraging Amdocs’ customer-centric and design-led thinking best practices. Amdocs will also deliver all associated third-party components, including content management and personalization capabilities from Adobe, as well as ongoing operation and third-party management services, all under a five-year managed services agreement.

“We have been relying on Amdocs’ business support systems since 1995 and later expanded this relationship to include systems operation and overall responsibility for our entire order-to-activation process,” said Michael Irizarry, executive vice president and chief technology officer at U.S. Cellular. “Our selection of Amdocs for this new strategic project builds on our history and on Amdocs’ continued strong delivery. This state-of-the-art solution will make it easier and simpler for our customers to interact with us and will differentiate the U.S. Cellular brand experience for today’s digital-savvy consumers.”

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U.S. Cellular Tests 5G for Fixed Wireless with Nokia

U.S. Cellular is working with Nokia to test 5G fixed wireless in both indoor and outdoor environments.

Nokia said the 5G testing used 28GHz spectrum through an experimental license from the FCC and Nokia's commercially-available, 5G-ready AirScale radio platform to stream six simultaneous 4K ultra high-definition videos.

For the outdoor testing, which was conducted at U.S. Cellular's technology center in Schaumburg, Ill., the team set up a point-to-point, clear line of sight scenario between a base station and user equipment. To test the impact of a real world environment, impairments such as dry wall, windows and metal panels were introduced, and testing was repeated by moving the base station and user equipment behind trees and foliage. The indoor testing was done in U.S. Cellular's lab. In both environments, the tests delivered speeds of 5Gbps and ultra-low latency under 2 milliseconds (ms) over the 5G wireless link.

Ricky Corker, executive vice president and head of North America for Nokia, said: "Nokia continues to accelerate its efforts to develop and test 5G in North America, and we're pleased to expand our relationship with U.S. Cellular with this newest 5G collaboration. Our tests show how 5G technology not only will enhance U.S. Cellular's ongoing efforts to stay ahead of the needs of their data-hungry customers and businesses, but also create opportunities for new services requiring high bandwidth and low latency."

http://www.nokia.com

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T-Mobile USA to Acquire 10 MHz of AWS Spectrum from US Cellular

T-Mobile USA will acquire 10 MHz of Advanced Wireless Services (AWS) spectrum from U.S. Cellular for $308 million in cash. The deal requires FCC and DOJ clearance.

The spectrum covers 32 million POPs in the Mississippi Valley region, notably St. Louis; Nashville; Kansas City; Memphis; Lexington; Little Rock-North Little Rock; Birmingham; New Orleans; and Louisville.

T-Mobile said the additional spectrum will allow for an incremental roll-out of LTE in new markets and expand the existing 4G LTE bandwidth in the important Mississippi Valley region.

“In today’s marketplace, spectrum is gold,” said John Legere, President and CEO of T-Mobile. “This is a rare opportunity to secure precious AWS spectrum in key markets that will immediately be put to use by both T-Mobile and MetroPCS customers. This deal expands our network and capacity, allowing for a broader roll-out of 4G LTE and an even faster and more reliable 4G experience for our customers – in addition to spurring competition in the wireless marketplace.”

http://newsroom.t-mobile.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=251624&p=irol-newsArticle&ID=1833844&highlight=

• Earlier this month, T-Mobile reported that the migration of MetroPCS customers onto its network was ahead of schedule and moving smoothly.  The company is making HSPA+ and LTE compatible devices available to MetroPCS customers as well as allowing them to bring their own unlocked compatible HSPA+ or LTE phone.  The full migration is expected to be complete by then of 2015.

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U.S. Cellular Appoints New CEO

U.S. Cellular named Kenneth R. Meyers as its new president and CEO, replacing Mary N. Dillon who resigned to take a position with ULTA Beauty.

Meyers joined U.S. Cellular in 1987 and held several senior management positions, including executive vice president and CFO. Meyers became executive vice president and CFO of TDS in 2007.

Dillon joined U.S. Cellular as president and CEO in June 2010, and was previously global chief marketing officer and executive vice president for McDonald's Corporation.

http://www.uscellular.com/about/press-room/2013/USCellular-and-TDS-announce-CEO-transition.html

• U.S. Cellular currently serves about 5.1 million mobile customers.

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