Nokia pledged to deliver the benefits of 5G to various major Egyptian cities under a deal to upgrade Telecom Egypt’s RAN, a move the vendor claimed will be the debut of the technology in the nation.

The vendor is lining up equipment from its AirScale portfolio to enable Telecom Egypt to introduce 5G-compatible services in Alexandria, Aswan, Cairo, Giza and Luxor.

Nokia plans to provide Massive MIMO radios, baseband, remote radio heads and services to the operator, which is the first in Egypt to be awarded a 5G licence.

The vendor explained the RAN equipment deal with Telecom Egypt is a new agreement and will “bring 5G technology to Egypt for the first time”.

Authorities in the nation are keen to deliver a digital society and are exploring how technology development and convergence can enable this, alongside creating a regulatory framework to encourage investment in the ICT sector as a whole.

Nokia stated its technology will increase connectivity capacity in highly populated areas, boosting download data rates, improving streaming capabilities and generally upping the overall performance of Telecom Egypt’s RAN.

Executives from each company talked of a longstanding relationship.

Mohamed Al Fowey, VP and CTO at Telecom Egypt, added the latest deal puts the operator “at the forefront of the 5G revolution”. Consumer and enterprise users will benefit from “enhanced mobile broadband”, along with new services employing the “speed and low latency of 5G”.

Nokia Mobile Networks president Tommi Uitto added the work “establishes a strong foundation for driving the nation’s digital transformation”.