Nokia lands all of Elisa Estonia’s 5G RAN work in vendor swap

Finnish kit vendor Nokia has continued its 5G redemption by landing the whole gig at the Estonian subsidiary of Finnish operator Elisa, replacing the incumbent vendor in the process.

It’s not the biggest deal win in the world and neither is it the greatest surprise given how close the two firms presumably are (the Elisa Chairman is former Nokia lifer Anssi Vanjoki). Nonetheless you have to assume Elisa wouldn’t have gone with Nokia unless it thought its 5G kit was up to scratch. Even the troubled ReefShark SoCs get a should-out in the press release, having presumably mended their FPGA ways.

“We have huge ambitions for providing state-of-the-art entertainment and communications services to our customers underpinned by a 5G network,” said Andrus Hiiepuu, CEO at Elisa Estonia. “Nokia is our trusted partner for this and will help us to deliver a sustainable 5G business. Their technology and innovation will help us to differentiate in the market and I look forward to working closely with them on this project.”

“We are delighted to have been selected by Elisa Estonia in this deal and for their trust in our technology leadership,” said Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia. “Our AirScale portfolio will deliver cutting-edge connectivity to their customers and I look forward to working closely with them on this project and beyond.”

Nokia’s share price is up almost 70 percent this year, for which its improving 5G fortunes must take much of the credit. CEO Pekka Lundmark, who took over in August 2020, deserves the rewards that will accompany this but, with Huawei being removed as a competitor in many markets for largely political reasons, he has been operating in a relatively benign commercial environment. “Nokia will replace the incumbent vendor,” says the press release.