du said it will be able to provide mobile coverage in areas that were previously out of reach

United Arab Emirates (UAE) operator du has partnered with satellite operator Intelsat, with the aim of expanding cellular connectivity across the Arab country.

Through the collaboration with Intelsat, du said that it will be able to provide mobile coverage in areas that were previously out of reach.

Saleem AlBlooshi, CTO at du, said: “du’s cellular backhaul solution stands at the forefront of innovation, significantly enhancing the capabilities of mobile coverage in remote areas. Through our partnership with Intelsat, we can leverage the full capacity of IS-39 satellite, providing coverage to even the most remote areas of the nation. With this advanced technology, end users can enjoy a superior, uninterrupted connection experience, regardless of their location.”

“Intelsat is well-positioned to support the UAE’s connectivity plans, supporting du in the provision of reliable connectivity. We look forward to working with du to expand its reachthese important areas, providing reliable access to an increasing number of end customers,” said Rhys Morgan, vice president and general manager of Intelsat.

Earlier this month, du selected Nokia to modernize its circuit-switched core network. As part of the project, Nokia will expand and modernize the telco’s existing IP multimedia subsystem (IMS) voice core networkextend Voice over Long Term Evolution (VoLTE) services.

Once fully deployed, the project will enhance voice quality and enable du’s customers to access new advanced services. The modernization of du’s existing infrastructure will ensure a smooth transition to Voice over New Radio (VoNR) services, Nokia said.

The Finnish vendor also reported that the deployment will also allow du to provide customers with improved fixed voice services.

As part of the project, Nokia will provide the Arab telco with its AVA Traffica and Mediation solutions to offer real-time insights that improve network management. The deployment of the vendor’s solutions will additionally provide support for 3G users until they are ready to upgrade their handsets to support VoLTE service, Nokia added.

Nokia and du had recently announced the conclusion of what they claimed to be UAE’s first 5G-Advanced 5G Reduced Capability (RedCap) trial over a commercial network.

The partners said that this recent trial showcased the readiness of du’s 5G network for innovative use cases in areas such as the Internet of Things (IoT), wearables and Industry 4.0 to address 5G monetization challenges.

RedCap, sometimes referred to as NR Light, is a reduced set of 5G capabilities intended for devices like wearables and low-cost hotspots that have low battery consumption, lower costs and lower bandwidth requirements. Introduced with 3GPP Release 17, 5G RedCap is designed for devices currently served by LTE CAT-4 but provides equivalent or better in performance with up to 150 Mbps theoretical maximum downlink throughput. This technology helps reduce the complexity, cost and size of 5G devices.

Nokia and du trialed MediaTek’s T300 series RedCap test equipment in the carrier’s 5G Standalone (SA) radio access network (RAN) built with Nokia’s AirScale radio products, leveraging existing mid-band spectrum.