EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: Hossein Moiin said it is now “critical” for operators to find new use cases beyond mobile broadband and cash in on their network investments, as he reiterated Nokia’s desire to evolve into a software company.

The CTO of Nokia’s Mobile Networks business put the focus on emerging network technologies including what the vendor defines as 4.5G Pro and 4.9G in an exclusive interview with Mobile World Live, and said both would increase the capacity of networks as well as reducing latency to meet growing consumer demand for data.

Moiin used India as an example, noting users were consuming up to 30GB of data per month after newcomer Reliance Jio came to market with a free 4G offer.

“This is greater than a gig a day for each and every user, so we think this demand is real,” he said. “There is no sign of it abating and therefore we think 4.9G and other technologies will help the operator meet these in a very cost efficient manner.”

In the interview he also stressed the need for operators to find new ways to use their networks beyond mobile broadband, and said 4.5G Pro and 4.9G would enable them to start experimenting in other areas, including IoT, critical communications and enhanced broadband experience.

“It’s really the right time for operators to start looking at how to expand the ecosystem and how they can benefit for all the investments they are making, instead of them just benefiting application providers and over the top players.”

Nokia’s acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent, completed during 2016, is also contributing to Nokia’s continuing transformation to become a software service provider. Click here to find out how.