Nokia, in collaboration with StarHub – a major Singaporean telco – is set to launch a cloud-native Core network that will work for standalone 5G services.
The standalone services are set to launch this year, as announced by both companies in a joint statement.
Work on the standalone services are ongoing, according to the firms, and it cuts across services including software, radio, professional, and security services.
This move will aid StarHub in the provision of 5G services to its subscribers, running alongside its currently-utilised 4G network.
According to the Chief Technical Officer, StarHub, Chong Siew, there is a high demand for phones and tariffs that shows “encouraging signs of the market’s appetite for 5G services, which are going mainstream in terms of deployment and adoption this year.”
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Siew added, “Nokia fuelled an important transition for our networks, bringing us into the 5G era, enabling new use cases and services, such as network slicing.”
This collaboration will mark Nokia’s second contract this year. It had been selected by M1 – a Singaporean operator – to deploy its cloud-native Core software to provide Singaporeans with a 5G standalone network.
What is Standalone 5G Network?
There are two types of 5G radio networks, the NSA (Non-Standalone Architecture) and SA (Standalone Architecture).
The NSA refers to the anchoring of a 5G network to the 4G Core, while the SA bypasses the 4G Core and is connected directly to the 5G core network, it does not need to rely on the 4G network.
5G networks are usually built around an existing 4G network but with the standalone network, 5G will run independently without interfacing with a 4G network.
