Nokia CEO, Rajeev Suri, has declared that no company is better positioned than the Finnish telecommunications colossus to deliver on 5G services. He made the remarks whilst delivering his presentation at Nokia's MWC 2018 Press & Analyst conference in Barcelona.
In what was a colorful, engaging and insightful presentation, Nokia's CEO highlighted how the speed of 5G development had caught many industry experts out, and that the combination of market and consumers demands was driving the acceleration of the next-generation technology.
Suri said, "Last year, we said 5G was coming fast, but we understated it. It is coming really fast. Consensus in the market last year was that the first 5G capable devices would become available in volumes, and 3GPP compatible networks would be launched in 2019. However, the increase of the number of customers interested has accelerated and so has the market. Trials with commercial base stations and other network elements based on the official 5G-NR standards will start in the second quarter of this year."
Nokia's CEO said that the battle to deploy 5G on a large-scale was a neck race between the United States and China. However, whilst he added it was difficult at this point to say who would be first, he did warn that the US needed to be more aggressive in relation to spectrum.
He also highlighted that Nokia expects the adoption of 5G to be much more rapid than what it was in earlier generations of technology. According to Suri, one of the main drivers of that speed will be demand from industrial companies.
Suri then stressed how he felt 5G will fundamentally change society and revolutionize our lives, whilst also highlighting how he felt Nokia was 'uniquely' positioned to 'win' at 5G.
He said, "The reality is 5G is not just 4G+. 5G is different. 5G is not just a new version of radio interface it is a complete redesigning of the network architecture. Whether you look at capacity, latency, slicing or speed, 5G is a massive step beyond where we are today. That performance will open a wallet of possibilities for consumers, businesses and everyone. 5G will really change how we live, work and play - and Nokia is uniquely positioned to win. That's a bold statement I know, but consider two points. First, Nokia's end-to-end portfolio is a powerful competitive advantage. Secondly, our product and service line-up is second to none."
Suri argued that no operator will be able to ignore the advantages of taking a single integrated approach, and no single company is better positioned to provide that than Nokia. Nokia's CEO added, "That's a remarkable competitive advantage, and one that will provide massive benefits both to us and our customers."
Nokia made a number of major announcements at the MWC 2018 Press and Analyst conference in Barcelona which included the signing of a MoU with China Mobile to jointly explore the use of 5G to drive new business opportunities for vertical industries.
Nokia and China Mobile will combine their expertise and resources to focus on delivering services for verticals leveraging key growth areas of smart cities, smart transportation and intelligent video analytics. Nokia will also extend its existing 5G collaboration with China Mobile's 5G innovation lab to investigate 5G use cases, future network security and open architecture development.
The strategic technology cooperation agreement signing was witnessed by Shang Bing, Chairman of China Mobile, and Rajeev Suri, President and CEO of Nokia, ahead of Mobile World Congress 2018 in Barcelona yesterday morning.
Rajeev Suri also announced during his presentation that Nokia will provide 5G end-to-end solution to Vodafone Italy in Milan aimed at trialing applications of ubiquitous ultra-fast 5G connectivity to support smart healthcare, emergency services, traffic management and tourism in Milan. It was also disclosed that the first successful test of the technology has been performed in real radio conditions on live 5G site by the railway station in Cadorna Square, Milan. He also told the assembled press to stay tuned for announcement with Vodafone later in the week at MWC on a project he described as 'out of this world'!
During his detailed presentation, Suri also highlighted the critical role its new chipset entitled Reef-Shark will have on the effective and efficient rollout of 5G Future X network solutions. The Reef-Shark is a device that enables its users to deploy their own algorithms and whose objective is that it can be used by operators to modernize their networks and make them capable of supporting 5G technology.
Suri also indicated that the Reef-Shark chip will be installed in its baseband modules, Nokia Air Scales, which will be available as of the third quarter of 2018.
Nokia's CEO concluded his presentation by making five predictions for the future. Suri said that social issues related to technology will start to heat up, and that virtual reality will start to creep back. He also claimed that new form factors will start to emerge that will question the dominance of the smartphone - and more and more traffic in the backbone of internet will be on the networks of web scale companies. His last prediction was that he believes 2018 will be the year that healthcare will start to finally see some massive systemic disruption.
