Nokia and Sudatel announced that they are to trial Nokia 4.5G Pro, 4.9G and 5G mobile technologies along with Nokia's fixed fiber-to-the-home (FTTH) portfolio to enhance the mobile and residential broadband experience in Sudan. The collaboration will focus initially on the capital city of Khartoum. Under its 2020 Strategy, Sudatel is focused on transforming its fixed access and mobile service offerings.

The company wants to enhance the subscriber experience on any device, in the home and on-the-move with high-speed delivery of voice, data and video and fixed and mobile packages, as well as e-government, e-health and other consumer and business services. Nokia and Sudatel will conduct several different use-case tests using Nokia fixed and mobile technologies in Nokia Laboratories in Espoo, Finland and Antwerp, Belgium. With an initial focus on enhancing mobile data services in Khartoum, the companies will evaluate how the 5G-ready AirScale radio access portfolio, can increase capacity and speeds while providing a path to 5G in the future.

In addition, Sudatel will leverage Nokia's passive optical networking (PON) fiber solutions to enhance the residential broadband experience. The companies will conduct a high-speed fixed technology trial in Khartoum, starting in July.