Nokia and UAE telco Du have deployed the first commercial 5G cloud RAN in the Middle East and Africa.

The partnership highlights Du’s hybrid RAN strategy that leverages purpose-built and cloud-native infrastructures for flexibility and scalability. The deployment supports the UAE’s evolving digital requirements as well as use cases including AI, machine learning and industry-specific applications in manufacturing, energy and logistics.

The commercial 5G cloud RAN site is deployed in Abu Dhabi. It is based on Nokia’s flexible AnyRAN approach included virtualised distributed and centralised units running on Dell PowerEdge XR8620 servers, and Red Hat OpenShift, a hybrid cloud application platform powered by Kubernetes. This supports cloud-native RAN functions across the network.

By integrating with Red Hat OpenShift, service providers such as Du have the option to scale their 5G network footprint and quickly introduce services. Du also used Nokia’s AirScale Massive MIMO radios operating in the 3.6GHz (n78) spectrum frequency, using 5G standalone architecture.

Nokia’s commercial cloud RAN can co-exist with purpose-built networks in hybrid environments and evolve to full cloud-native networks, supporting the rising demand for RAN cloudification. Common Nokia RAN software ensures feature and performance consistency of cloud RAN and purpose-built RAN across the entire commercial footprint.

This milestone provides evidence of Nokia’s flexible AnyRAN approach providing options for service providers and enterprises for their RAN evolution with purpose-built, hybrid or cloud RAN, helping users monetise their networks.

“Our collaboration with Nokia represents a major leap forward in Du’s mission to deliver exceptional network performance and innovative services,” said Saleem Alblooshi, chief technology officer of Du (www.du.ae). “Leveraging 5G cloud RAN will not only enhance our network’s efficiency and flexibility but also enable us to explore new opportunities and services that can deliver genuine value to our customers and society at large.”

Mark Atkinson, head of RAN at Nokia (www.nokia.com), added: “This strategic partnership with Du is much more than an infrastructure deployment. Both companies are committed to driving innovation by developing pioneering use cases that leverage the transformative power of AI and private wireless networks. Under our AnyRAN approach, we bring together Nokia’s expertise, trusted performance and innovation in radio networks with best-in-class partner options to offer true flexibility and scalability to operators and enterprises. This collaboration will enable the development of innovative services that empower businesses and individuals alike.”