Taiwan Star Telecom (TST) plans to expand its 5G footprint across the island nation, tapping long-term partner Nokia to provide latest equipment from the latter’s 5G AirScale portfolio to support the mobile operator’s 5G standalone (SA) network.
Nokia will supply equipment from its comprehensive AirScale portfolio to meet a variety of deployment scenarios. This includes its enhanced, next-generation AirScale Indoor (ASiR) system for retail and office environments. The compact, flexible indoor system is designed to seamlessly upgrade to 5G NR via plug-and-play with minimal on-site work.
TST will also use the EN-DC functionality available on Nokia’s AirScale radios. EN-DC allows devices to connect simultaneously to 5G and LTE networks, transmitting and receiving data across both air-interface technologies.
This means devices can achieve a higher throughput than when connecting to 5G or LTE alone. TST’s 5G SA network enables the full potential of 5G unlocking new services such as Voice over 5G New Radio (VoNR) for enhanced call services. Nokia’s 5G portfolio ensures a simple migration path and a fast deployment for TST to support its requirements.
“It is imperative that our customers receive the best possible 5G services in terms of performance and coverage. Our continuing partnership with Nokia will see us expand and enhance our 5G offering ensuring they receive best-in-class experiences,” said Cliff Lai, president, TST.
TST is a growing brand in a competitive market. The network expansion is crucial to providing better coverage and performance to their 5G subscribers and increase market share.
TST launched 5G services last summer using the 40 MHz of bandwidth in the 3.5GHz band it had previously secured. Early deployment saw 80% covered in densely populated areas last year with 100 % in Taiwan expected to be covered by 2023.
TST’s 5G subscriptions reached 5%of its total mobile users last year with a target of reaching 20% by the end of this year.
