Nokia, Ericsson to Provide 5G Gear to U.S. Cellular

Regional wireless operator U.S. Cellular has within the span of a week inked a pair of multi-year deals to purchase equipment and software for its 5G network plans. The nation’s fifth-largest wireless operator tapped Ericsson and Nokia to supply standards-based 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) equipment for a 5G network it plans to make available to customers sometime in the second half of this year. U.S. Cellular is much smaller in terms of coverage area and customers but it’s keeping up with larger operators like AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile US and Sprint, which have all announced plans to launch 5G commercial services during the next year. Ericsson and Nokia are also major 5G suppliers for the nation’s four largest operators. The Chicago-based operator, which has roughly 5 million customers, didn’t disclose financial terms of the agreements, but in a recent Securities and Exchange Commission filing it noted that “deployment of 5G technology will require substantial investments in spectrum and U.S. Cellular’s networks to remain competitive.”