Huawei and Icelandic Operator Nova Sign Agreement on 5G Testing

[Barcelona, Spain, February 26, 2019] On Tuesday Huawei and mobile operator Nova signed an agreement on the first project on 5G testing to be executed in Iceland. The signing ceremony was held at the Huawei exhibition of the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. This will be Huawei's first partnership for 5G in Iceland.

Margrét Tryggvadóttir, CEO, Nova(left five) and Kenneth Fredriksen, CEO, Huawei Sweden(left six) signing agreement

“Our customers expect us to offer 5G speeds and we want to make sure to get a head start on Iceland. Our partnership with Huawei for the first local test of 5G is a strategic tool to make that a reality“, says Margrét Tryggvadóttir, CEO of NOVA.

Nova was the first mobile operator to launch both 3G and 4G on Iceland. They now follow their tradition by also being the first to fully test 5G locally. Huawei has been chosen to be the partner and supplier of equipment needed and the trials are expected to last several months. Nova expect 5G to be widely adopted in Iceland in 2020.

“We look forward to the 5G trial period together with Nova and will work hard to make it a success. It is important that our systems reliability and levels of network security are tested in direct collaboration with our customers on yet another market making sure they are robust”, says Kenneth Fredriksen, CEO for Huawei Sweden and Iceland.

For the test Huawei have installed 5G base stations and routers placed at Nova’s facilities. Now, careful tests will commence for aspects such as quality of transmission and network security. Huawei now have over 30 commercial 5G contracts with telecommunications companies worldwide, mainly from Europe including Finland, Spain and UK.

The scope of Memorandum

The Memorandum of Understanding signed state that Nova and Huawei intend to strengthen and expand their strategic partnership. Both parties intend to extend cooperation on 5G technology to realize the best telecommunications network in Iceland in terms of radio coverage, stability and bandwidth which ensure the reliable service quality and the enhanced experience for Nova customers. That will include a Gbps scope that will represent an overall improvement in the peak rate, capacity, and cell edge throughput.

• For 5G scope, 200 sites of 5G Massive MIMO;
• For 5G CPE (Customer-Premises Equipment), approximately 2000 pieces.
• For 5G service, scope including planning, design, rollout, and optimization to ensure the overall network quality and user experience.

MWC 2019 runs from February 25 to February 28 in Barcelona, Spain. Huawei showcases its products and solutions at booth 1H50 in Fira Gran Via Hall 1, booth 3I30 in Hall 3, the Innovation City zone in Hall 4, booth 7C21 and 7C31 in Hall 7. For more information, please visit:  carrier.huawei.com/en/events/mwc2019