Telecommunications company Nokia Corporation has been selected by Rock Connect to deploy a 4G-LTE Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) network in Jamaica.

Nokia was selected as the sole vendor in the deal, and will provide its complete solutions portfolio, delivering a customised, digital and 5G-ready network.

The project aims to cover 95 per cent of the population by 2025, by providing broadband services to regions where fiber connectivity is currently not available and supporting reduction of the digital divide.

Additionally, it will enable Rock Connect to offer a highly competitive alternative to existing fixed networks in terms of speed and capacity, and with faster setup times.

Chairman at Rock Connect Bruce Bowen said, “Rock Connect continues to lay the foundation of a reliable and advanced network, with the ability to rapidly deploy new services. We are focused on excelling at customer service. With an agile response to customer demands, we can provide broadband solutions and new opportunities to empower Jamaicans.”

Rock Mobile is the country’s third licensed telecoms provider. It was granted the licence in 2021. Rock Mobile is held directly by Rock Capital Partners Limited, a company registered in Jamaica in June 2017, also owned by Bowen.

Under the deal, Nokia will provide its latest AirScale product portfolio, designed for seamless, simple, and efficient ‘plug-in’ deployment and reduced power consumption. It will also provide carrier aggregation with its Wavence portfolio, supporting future 5G backhaul use cases across different frequency bands.

The vendor will also deploy its Cloud Packet Core to deliver the flexibility, scale, capacity and performance needed to support the increasing number of users, devices and throughput, enabling Rock Connect to launch new competitive solutions and services to meet business and consumer needs.

“We are excited to start this journey as a strategic partner of Rock Connect in Jamaica as the only supplier for this greenfield project. We hope to build the foundations for a long-term partnership with our best-in-class portfolio, enabling Rock Connect to enter new markets with broadband options for consumers and business in cities and connecting distant regions for the first time,” commented Osvaldo Di Campli, head of Latin America at Nokia.