Hong Kong and Macau's SmarTone has revealed plans to launch LTE services in Macau this month via an upgrade of its existing 3G network.
The company has awarded Nokia Networks a five-year contract to be the sole supplier of radio and core network infrastructure for the LTE rollout.
SmarTone, which provides full coverage of Macau with its GSM/3G/HSPA+ network, is conducting the upgrade to address growing demand for mobile data in the densely-populated area.
The contract with Nokia Networks covers the supply of single RAN, evolved packet core and subscriber data management equipment, as well as SON software, a virtualized OSS and network planning, system integration and implementation services.
“As a customer-centric company, we have been delivering outstanding experiences to our customers in 3G and will do the same in 4G LTE,” SmarTone Macau CEO Patrick Chan said.
“As we are evolving our network infrastructure to address future capacity requirements, our long-standing partner Nokia Networks helps us seamlessly migrate to a 4G LTE network to provide our customers in Macau with an enhanced mobile broadband experience.”