AT&T and Finnish network equipment supplier Nokia have agreed to create a fibre network in the United States, the Finnish business announced on Tuesday.
The agreement comes after Nokia lost a big contract with AT&T to its Swedish rival Ericsson, which the US operator selected in December to create a telecoms network that will cover 70% of its wireless traffic in the US by late 2026.
Following AT&T’s $14 billion five-year agreement with Ericsson, Nokia is looking to expand its fibre network.
Nokia did not disclose the financial value of the new five-year fibre deal, but described it as “a significant milestone” that would “boost broadband access for millions of users” in the United States, while also supporting AT&T’s extensive fibre network footprint, which “passed 27.8 million total fibre locations as of the second quarter of 2024.”
In July, Nokia reported a 32% drop in profit, but CEO Pekka Lundmark predicted a significant increase in net sales in the second half of 2024. Nokia did not disclose the financial value of the new five-year fibre deal, but described it as a “significant milestone” that will improve broadband access for millions of users in the US.
Nokia stated the fibre contract with AT&T is “Build America, Buy America-compliant”, to meet the standards of U.S. government funding.
In June, Nokia announced the acquisition of Infinera, a maker of optical networking gear in the United States, for $2.3 billion in a bid to capitalise on the billions of dollars in investment pouring into data centres to support the rise of artificial intelligence.
