Nokia to supply T-Mobile with $3.5 billion worth of 5G network gear

Representational image. Reuters[/caption]No.3 US mobile carrier T-Mobile — which in April agreed to a merger with Sprint to create a more formidable rival to US telecom giants Verizon and AT&T  said the multiyear supply deal with Nokia will deliver the first nationwide 5G services.The T-Mobile award is critical to Finland’s Nokia, whose results have been battered by years of slowing demand for existing 4G networks and mounting investor doubts over whether 5G contracts can begin to boost profitability later this year.5G networks promise to deliver faster speeds for mobile phone users and make networks more responsive and reliable for the eventual development of new industrial automation, medical monitoring, driverless car and other business uses.But cash-strapped telecom operators around the world have been gun-shy over committing to commercial upgrades of existing networks, with many seeing 5G technology simply as a way to deliver incremental capacity increases instead of new features.5G networks promise to deliver faster speeds for mobile phone users and make networks more responsive and reliable for the eventual development of new industrial automation, medical monitoring, driverless car and other business uses.But cash-strapped telecom operators around the world have been gun-shy over committing to commercial upgrades of existing networks, with many seeing 5G technology simply as a way to deliver incremental capacity increases instead of new features.The network equipment business, which is led by three big players - China’s Huawei, Nokia and Sweden’s Ericsson - has struggled with flagging growth since the current generation of 4G mobile equipment peaked in 2015.