In Helsinki on February 4, U.S. telecoms operator AT&T and Finnish network equipment maker Nokia inked a multi-year expansion agreement to enhance AT&T's voice carriage and 5G network automation in the United States, as reported by the Finnish company.
Following Nokia's loss of a significant contract with AT&T to Swedish competitor Ericsson last year, AT&T chose Ericsson in late 2023 to construct a telecommunication network covering 70% of its wireless traffic in the U.S. by late 2026. In response, Nokia secured a smaller five-year deal with AT&T to construct a fiber network before later finalizing the latest deal for cloud-based voice core applications and Nokia's network automation software.
Regarding the agreement, Raghav Sahgal, President of Cloud and Network Services at Nokia, stated to Reuters that, This is an important deal for Nokia, reinforcing the strong and longstanding relationship between Nokia and AT&T, and covering multiple years and technologies that will enable new 5G functionality.
Nokia highlighted that the upgrade to AT&T's core network would introduce new voice services, including the integration of AI and machine learning capabilities. However, the financial details of the deal remain undisclosed.
Yigal Elbaz, the Senior Vice President of AT&T's Technology & Network Services, expressed satisfaction in continuing the collaboration with Nokia to further optimize network operations and introduce services tailored to meet evolving customer needs.
Supported by a stronger-than-anticipated fourth-quarter adjusted operating profit and sales, Nokia is optimistic about 2025 prospects, driven by increased demand for telecoms equipment from mobile operators in North America and India.
To leverage the growing market for artificial intelligence, Nokia ventured into a $2.3 billion acquisition of Infinera last year to benefit from substantial investments in data centers, such as the $500 billion Stargate project backed by OpenAI, SoftBank, and Oracle.