du and Nokia announce the First Commercial 5G Cloud RAN Deployment in the Middle East and Africa

du, the leading telecom and digital services provider, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Nokia, marking the deployment of the first commercial 5G Cloud RAN site in the Middle East and Africa. Cloud RAN marks a significant advancement in radio networks, as purpose-built RAN and Cloud RAN solutions converge within a hybrid environment, ensuring consistency in features and performance.

Through this strategic partnership, du and Nokia go beyond infrastructure deployment by driving innovation and developing pioneering use cases that leverage the transformative power of AI, enterprise and private wireless networks. With a focus on RAN EDGE, a critical component of 5G Advanced networks, the collaboration will enable the development of next-generation services that empower businesses and individuals alike. 

The project will progress through multiple phases, starting with comprehensive use case studies and culminating in the deployment of a comprehensive Hybrid RAN strategy. This phased approach ensures a seamless transition to a future-proof network that can adapt to evolving demands and deliver a truly transformative digital experience for du's customers

Saleem AlBlooshi, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of du said: "as the leader in 5G and 5G Advanced; our collaboration with Nokia represents a major leap forward in du’s mission to deliver exceptional network performance and innovative services. 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 Senior Vice President, Head of Radio Access Networks at Nokia said: " 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 and innovation in radio networks with best-in-class partner solutions to offer true flexibility and scalability to operators and enterprises. This collaboration will enable the development of next-generation services that empower businesses and individuals alike."

The commercial 5G Cloud RAN site, deployed in Abu Dhabi is based on Nokia’s advanced anyRAN approach. This includes Nokia’s virtualized Distributed Unit (vDU) and virtualized Central Unit (vCU), running on Dell (XR8620) servers, the RedHat OpenShift, the industry's leading hybrid cloud application platform powered by Kubernetes, to support cloud-native RAN functions. The solution also utilized Nokia’s AirScale Massive MIMO Radios operating in the 3.6 GHz (n78) spectrum frequency, using 5G Standalone architecture.