HELSINKI (Reuters) – U.S. telecom operator AT&T and Finnish networking equipment maker Nokia have signed an agreement to build a fiber-optic network in the U.S., the Finnish company said on Tuesday.
The deal comes after Nokia lost a major deal with AT&T to its Swedish rival Ericsson, which chose the US operator in December to build a telecom network that will cover 70% of its wireless traffic in the United States by the end of 2026.
Nokia is eyeing new growth in fiber after AT&T’s five-year, $14 billion deal with Ericsson.
Nokia did not disclose the financial value of the new five-year fiber deal, but called it “an important milestone” and said it would “increase broadband access for millions of users” in the US while supporting AT&T’s expanded fiber network footprint “going beyond has gone’. A total of 27.8 million fiber optic locations from the second quarter of 2024”.
In July, Nokia reported a 32% drop in profits, but CEO Pekka Lundmark predicted net sales would rise significantly in the second half of the year, pointing to an improving fiber optic market in the US and a $42 billion US government program to boost citizens’ productivity. access to high-speed broadband.
Nokia said the fiber deal with AT&T is “Build America, Buy America compliant” to meet U.S. government funding requirements.
In June, Nokia announced the acquisition of US optical networking equipment maker Infinera in a $2.3 billion deal, in a bid to capitalize on the billions of dollars of investment pouring into data centers to meet the rise of artificial intelligence.
(Reporting by Anne Kauranen in Helsinki; Editing by David Evans)