Canadian network operator Telus today tapped Nokia to power some of its 5G services offerings. The partnership will see Telus deploy Nokia's subscriber data management and policy controller, NetAct network management, LTE indoor picocells, and IP edge routers.

Nokia claims this technology will allow Telus to manage its network at a lower cost while reducing the number of truck rolls through automation. The telecommunications vendor also claims that this technology will provide the carrier with finer control over service level agreements specifically where low-latency communications are required.

"As a result, Telus can establish a cloud-enabled network architecture for faster, more efficient data delivery of new residential, business, and mobile services," Nokia claims.

Ibrahim Gedeon, CTO at Telus, said Nokia's technology will allow the operator to pursue the development of smart cities and industry 4.0 — a blanket term for industrial IoT and interconnected infrastructure. These capabilities, he claims, will give rise to more virtual health care, immersive education, agriculture technology, and advanced gaming.

"With an exponential increase in capacity, bandwidth and speed, 5G will change the way we live and work by fostering Canadian innovation and growing several key verticals of our economy," Gedeon said in a statement.

The contract win comes as Nokia undergoes a seismic shift in its upper management following the arrival of Pekka Lundmark as CEO late this summer. Since taking control, Lundmark has announced a company-wide restructuring and shift in strategy designed to revitalize the vendor’s 5G radio access network (RAN) business and strengthen its position against rival Ericsson.

Lundmark's vision includes a three-pronged approach that will see the telecommunications vendor abandon its "end-to-end as a core strategy idea," which his predecessor Rajeev Suri often used to justify the company’s acquisition of Alcatel-Lucent in 2016. The $16.6 billion deal continues to dog Nokia as the company lags competitors on multiple fronts.