NOKIA SEALS MULTI-YEAR EXPANSION DEAL WITH AT&T FOR VOICE AND AUTOMATION

Earlier today, Finnish network equipment maker, Nokia announced that it has signed a multi-year expansion agreement with U.S. telecoms operator AT&T to upgrade AT&T’s voice carriage and 5G network automation in the U.S.

The deal comes a year after Nokia lost a major contract with AT&T to its Swedish rival Ericsson, which the U.S. operator chose in the later days of 2023 to build a telecom network that will cover 70% of its wireless traffic in the United States by late 2026.

After AT&T’s $14 billion five-year deal with Ericsson, Nokia announced a smaller five-year deal with AT&T to build a fiber network in the U.S. in September, before signing a second one on Tuesday for cloud-based voice core applications and the use of Nokia’s network automation software.

In a virtual statement, Raghav Sahgal, president of Cloud and Network Services at Nokia, told newsmen that the deal is an important one for Nokia, strengthening the strong and long-standing relationship between the tech companies and covering multiple years and technologies that will enable new 5G functionality.

Nokia said the upgrade to AT&T’s core network would facilitate new voice services, such as the integration of AI and machine learning capabilities.