Nokia sought to ease operator’s transition to 5G, unveiling a version of dynamic spectrum sharing (DSS) compatible with a wide variety of legacy radio technologies.

While the move to 5G has resulted in a fresh focus on DSS, Nokia appears to have gone a step further than recent moves by rivals focused on the transition from 4G to 5G, by enabling the full range of mobile technologies from 2G upwards to be employed.

Sandro Tavares, Nokia’s global head of mobile networks marketing, explained to Mobile World Live the company’s technology will allow sharing between 2G/3G; 2G/4G; 3G/4G; and 4G/5G. He added more than one of these combinations can run in parallel on the same system.

“This means that the operator running 4G/5G DSS can for example also activate 3G/4G DSS to allocate additional spectrum to 4G, offsetting a bit of what is being dynamically shared with 5G.”

He added the technology is meant to provide operators with more flexibility to manage their spectrum assets as they progress to 5G.

In all scenarios, he said the DSS capabilities are delivered via a software upgrade on its AirScale radio platform, with no new equipment needed.

The company said it expects to begin initial deliveries of its DSS product this month and achieve full volume by July.