Nokia and Elisa Extend 5G Deal With 20% Energy Savings

Elisa, a leading telecom operator in Finland and Estonia, has extended its long-term partnership with Nokia through a new four-year agreement to modernise its network infrastructure significantly. The project focuses on enhancing capacity, coverage and ultra-low latency performance in preparation for the advanced 5G phase, often referred to as 5.5G.

With more than a decade of collaboration, Nokia and Elisa are taking a strategic step to address the evolving demands of both consumer and enterprise users.

The agreement includes widespread deployment of Nokia’s energy-efficient AirScale Radio Access Network (RAN) technology, including its latest innovations in baseband and radio technologies.

Next-generation hardware and software rollout

Nokia’s updated AirScale portfolio is central to supporting Elisa’s ambitions. The deployment will include the Habrok 32 Massive MIMO radios, Pandion multi-band remote radio heads, compact Tuuli 26e, and high-performance Ponente, Lodos, and Levante baseband systems.

Nokia’s proprietary ReefShark System-on-Chip (SoC) powers all the equipment. It is engineered to optimise energy usage without compromising network reliability or throughput.

Nokia’s MantaRay Network Management platform will be implemented, enabling enhanced operational control and streamlined service performance across Elisa’s territories.

Sami Komulainen, Chief Operating Officer at Elisa, stated: “As a pioneer in 5G, we are investing in new 5.5G features that enhance AI usage in phones, computers and businesses.

“The world’s first customers are already using 5.5G in Elisa’s network, and together with Nokia, we are expanding access to this technology. We are developing our network to meet the changing customer needs and creating a strong foundation for new innovations.”

Boosting massive MIMO performance

Nokia will introduce its AirScale Dual Boost base station technology to Elisa’s network to extend the performance of base station assets.

The innovation boosts uplink and downlink capabilities, leveraging enhanced coordination between radio and baseband layers. It represents a key enabler in delivering advanced applications such as virtual and augmented reality, AI-powered services and next-generation industrial use cases.

Tommi Uitto, President of Mobile Networks at Nokia, noted: “This important contract extension with our long-standing partner, Elisa, will take their 5G network to the next level, delivering ultra-fast speeds and low-latency with our latest Advanced 5G capable AirScale portfolio. Elisa’s pioneering efforts are a benchmark in the delivery of 5G services.

The Advanced 5G era will drive innovation in manufacturing, healthcare, transportation, and energy, creating new jobs and economic opportunities.”

Energy efficiency through cloud-native architecture

The agreement encompasses Nokia’s Cloud Native Communication Suite (CNCS), designed to consolidate multiple IMS functionalities into a single, cloud-native solution. According to Nokia, CNCS delivers 10% to 20% greater energy efficiency than traditional IMS voice cores, reducing hardware footprint and operational complexity.

Nokia will deliver its SR Linux-based data centre switching fabric and the Event-Driven Automation (EDA) platform to support Elisa’s transition toward a more agile network environment. Nokia’s 7750 Service Router data centre gateways will power the backhaul infrastructure between telco cloud zones.

Core infrastructure upgrades

Further integrations include Nokia’s Subscriber Data Management solution, which enables Elisa to unify user data across platforms via a centralised repository.

Additional core features such as Cloud Signalling Director will secure communications, especially in roaming scenarios, and the Nokia Cloud Platform will streamline workflow automation and reduce manual intervention across the network.

With a focus on energy efficiency, automation and support for emerging 5.5G applications, the extended partnership between Nokia and Elisa sets a benchmark for operators preparing their infrastructure for the next wave of mobile connectivity.

By leveraging Nokia’s end-to-end RAN and Core technologies, Elisa is positioning itself to meet the growing demand for AI-powered services and industrial automation across Finland and Estonia.

The collaboration offers mobile operators and service providers a working model for how CSPs can modernise infrastructure while driving innovation, efficiency, and operational resilience.

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