Nokia and T-Mobile have sealed a US$3.5 billion agreement to accelerate the deployment of a nationwide 5G network in the United States. Nokia has committed to providing T-Mobile with its complete end-to-end 5G technology, software and services portfolio in terms of the partnership.

The deal comes in the same month as the announcement by Nokia and Sudatel of their plan to trial Nokia 4.5G Pro, 4.9G and 5G mobile technologies along with Nokia’s fixed Fiber-to-the-Home (FTTH) portfolio in Sudan.

That collaboration is focused on the capital city of Khartoum initially although its scope will be expanded as it forms part of Sudatel’s 2020 strategy of transforming its fixed access and mobile service offerings, according to the telco.

Neville Ray, Chief Technology Officer at T-Mobile says investment in 5G is opportune. "Every dollar we spend is a 5G dollar, and our agreement with Nokia underscores the kind of investment we're making to bring customers a mobile, nationwide 5G network. And together with Sprint, we'll be able to do so much more."

Nokia will help build T-Mobile's nationwide 5G network with 600 MHz and 28 GHz millimeter wave 5G capabilities compliant with 3GPP 5G New Radio (NR) standards as part of the agreement.

Ashish Chowdhary, Chief Customer Operations Officer, Nokia says the deal is part of a plan by Nokia and T-Mobile to advance the large-scale deployment of 5G services throughout the US.

“This is a testament to our companies' strong and productive working relationship, one which has produced several important technological milestones in recent months, and which now allows us to make 5G a commercial reality."

In a statement T-Mobile confirmed it will leverage multiple products across Nokia's end-to-end 5G technology, software and services portfolio, including commercial AirScale radio platforms and cloud-native core, AirFrame hardware, CloudBand software, SON and 5G Acceleration Services.

The two companies say they will jointly develop, test and launch the next generation of connectivity services that will cover a wide range of industries, including enterprise, smart cities, utilities, transportation, health, manufacturing, retail, agriculture and government agencies.