Nokia said that the trial demonstrated an augmented reality use case for industrial applications

Finnish vendor Nokia and Saudi carrier stc announced that they have successfully tested a 5G private wireless network based on cloud-native O-RAN technology.

In a release, Nokia noted that the trial was hosted on Microsoft Azure Operator Nexus, which is Microsoft’s carrier-grade cloud platform.

Utilizing O-RAN technology, stc intends to bring the benefits of openness, virtualization, flexible and interoperable networks to various industries and organizations across Saudi Arabia.

The trial was performed in an over-the-air environment using Nokia’s O-RAN 7-2x Compliant Radios and virtual Distributed/Centralized Units (vDU/vCU) running on Azure Operator Nexus hosted on the HPE ProLiant DL110 Gen11 server with In-Line L1 acceleration. The trial demonstrated an augmented reality use case for industrial applications, showing the potential and versatility of the jointly developed solution, Nokia said.

Haithem Alfaraj, CTO at stc, said: “We are proud to be at the forefront of innovation in the telecommunications industry. Our collaboration with Nokia and Microsoft underscores our commitment to driving digital transformation and enabling our customers to leverage the full potential of advanced technologies as part of our R&D development with our partners and hyperscalers. By harnessing the capabilities of O-RAN and cloud computing, stc can drive innovation, enable advanced Industry 4.0 applications, and unlock new business opportunities.”

“The successful trial of the O-RAN-based 5G private wireless network over Microsoft Azure showcases the potential of open and scalable networks combined with cloud capabilities. This achievement is a significant step forward in enabling enterprises to unlock the benefits of private wireless networks and embrace digital transformation,” said Mark Atkinson, Head of RAN at Nokia.

Meanwhile, Shawn Hakl, VP 5G strategy, Azure for Operators at Microsoft, said that this milestone demonstrates the power of combining cloud computing and advanced wireless technologies to drive innovation and empower businesses.

Last week, solutions by stc, announced an O-RAN deal with U.S. firm Mavenir to launch what it claims to be the first commercial O-RAN network in Saudi Arabia.

The service is expected to be commercially available in 2024. This deal follows a successful initial deployment for multi-layer 4G and 5G NSA Access Network on the O-RAN platform to Saudi carrier stc, delivered in partnership with solutions by stc and Mavenir.

The newly launched multi-layered 4G and 5G Radio network will utilize Mavenir’s 4G Remote Radio Unit (RRU) and 5G Massive MIMO (mMIMO) Active Antenna Unit (AAU) technology and leverage the cloud-native Mavenir Webscale Platform (MWP) with fully containerized Centralized Unit (CU) and Distributed Unit (DU) software.