A man uses his smart phone to document a partial solar eclipse in Phnom Penh on March 9, 2016. (Reuters photo)

Cambodia mobile operators drive for 5G

Bangkok Post / Khmer Times | 25 January 2017

Leading mobile operator Cellcard, a subsidiary of the conglomerate Royal Group, is teaming up with Nokia to expand LTE coverage nationwide in a move to jump to 5G in the upcoming year.

A deal was reached on Monday where Nokia will expand and modernise Cambodian operator Cellcard’s 3G and LTE network to help it meet surging mobile broadband demand, the Khmer Times reported on Wednesday.

The major initiative will empower Cellcard to offer the best mobile data services and an enhanced customer experience throughout Cambodia, according to a statement from the company. 

Cellcard’s project with Nokia will also see the migration of its current billing platform to Nokia SurePay, which offers real-time, convergent and flexible charging and billing options for various market segments.

In addition, the operator can deliver a range of compelling and personalised service offerings to subscribers, as well as promotional offers.

Cellcard chief executive Ian Watson said the expansion of its state-of-the-art mobile broadband network would play a critical role in helping the government enable Cambodians to take advantage of mobile broadband.

“We are proud to work with Nokia in our initiative to offer the best LTE coverage and services to our subscribers. Nokia’s proven expertise will enable us to provide better coverage and quality of services to our subscribers,” he said.  

Harald Preiss, head of Asia North at Nokia, said Nokia’s innovative solutions would help Cellcard’s vision of offering best-in-class mobile broadband services become reality.

“We are delighted to help Cellcard expand and modernise its mobile broadband network. At the completion of the project, Cellcard will be able to deliver superior broadband services to its subscribers in both urban and rural regions,” he said.

Cellcard launched LTE services in Phnom Penh in 2015 and has followed this with expansion to other areas. The current expansion involves Nokia’s deployment of about 1,500 additional sites to make mobile broadband services available in other provinces and rural areas.

Under the modernisation programme, Cellcard will use the Nokia 9500 Microwave Packet Radio platform to facilitate the transformation of its legacy microwave transport network to packet radio delivery to meet increasing data consumption nationwide in Cambodia.

According to data from the Telecommunication Regulator of Cambodia, by the end of September, there were six mobile, eight landline phone and 35 internet providers.

There were some 19.3 million mobile contract subscriptions, 235,000 landline subscribers, seven million users of mobile internet and almost 90,000 home internet subscribers.

Mobile broadband is recording a growth of 37% year-on-year in Cambodia, according to GSMA Intelligence.