Telia to Deploy 5G FWA Network in Finland

Telia Finland has been one of the more nimble carriers in Europe when it comes to 5G. It’s now planning to test the Finnish appetite for a new 5G fixed wireless access (FWA) service, courtesy of Nokia. The Nordic carrier is deploying the Nokia FastMile 5G gateway, providing a fixed broadband replacement service for both residential and business customers. The product is a single, indoor device that connects wirelessly to the mobile network and is also compliant with the 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) standard. Telia Finland said it has already started to test the device, which Nokia launched at the recent MWC Barcelona event, and expects the first consumer pilots to start during the spring. The vendor has also been bullish on the prospects for FWA, citing statistics from Ovum that predict the number of households served by FWA technologies will rise 50 percent by 2022, increasing from 18.5 million to 27.5 million households. 5G is expected to account for 16 percent of all FWA technology deployed by 2022. A recent report from Dell’Oro Group cited FWA as one of the primary drivers for radio access network (RAN) investments over the next five years, also propelled by demand for 5G NR.