Africell picked Nokia as the supplier of the network equipment for a planned entry into Angola in H2 being made to broaden its footprint in the continent.

The operator stated the collaboration with Nokia will provide it with the latest cloud technologies, deliver cost-efficiency through shared infrastructure and enable it to provide highly differentiated products and services.

Africell will deploy Nokia’s AirScale Single Radio Access Network (S-RAN) at up to 700 sites to create a network supporting voice and data services on 2G, 3G and 4G. The network will also be “5G-ready” through a software update.

The operator will also use Nokia-developed products to run cloud-based applications, improve network monitoring and management and achieve “a high degree of flexibility” to respond to changing customer needs by scaling various network functions in accordance to traffic volumes.

Africell CTO Younes Chaaban said the company needs “reliable partners” such as Nokia to be able to provide “superior voice and data services” while it looks to expand its footprint in Africa.

Following its entry, Africell will become the third major mobile operator in Angola, joining Unitel and Movicel.