Airtel Kenya just signed a deal with Finnish tech firm, Nokia, in a bid to modernise Nairobi with high-speed 4G and 5G-ready hardware. The deal is set to run for three years and will future-proof Airtel Kenya’s 4G network for a smooth transition to the next generation of wireless communication, 5G.

“We are excited to partner with Nokia on this project. Its technology portfolio improves our network quality considerably and also allows us to move to 5G services in the future,” P. D. Sarma, CEO, Airtel Kenya.

Airtel Kenya seeks to better its network connectivity for customers around the country to enable them to access enhanced voice and data services. This step is clearly quite huge for the telco that has suffered from poor connectivity across various parts in the country.

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According to Airtel, Nokia will be tasked with upgrading existing 2G, 3G and 4G radio access network (RAN) coverage in different areas across the country.

“This is an exciting deal in an exciting market. We are proud to supply Airtel Kenya with our comprehensive AirScale portfolio and support the operator with its efforts to deliver the best possible connectivity experiences to end-users in Kenya. In a maturing market, we look forward to helping Airtel execute its strategy in the short-term as well as set it on the path to 5G services,” said Rajiv Aggarwal, Head of CEWA Market Unit at Nokia.

The Finland-based telco equipment maker has been a champion for the next-gen network that is gradually making its name across the globe.  The firm was lucky enough to be the sole supplier of 5G network by all network operators in the U.S, South Korea and Japan.