du, one of the leading telecom and digital services provider, recently announced that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Nokia to drive innovation through the cloudification of its Radio Access Network (RAN) in the UAE. AWS and Nokia are showcasing this in a joint demonstration of a 5G Cloud RAN solution at the AWS booth during Mobile World Congress 2025., AWS and Nokia will host Nokia’s vDU on an AWS Graviton 3 outposts server to support du’s ambitions of accelerating digital transformation across the region.
du, one of the leading telecom and digital services providers, recently announced that it has entered into a strategic collaboration with Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Nokia to drive innovation through the cloudification of its Radio Access Network (RAN) in the UAE. AWS and Nokia are showcasing this in a joint demonstration of a 5G Cloud RAN solution at the AWS booth during Mobile World Congress 2025., AWS and Nokia will host Nokia’s vDU on an AWS Graviton 3 outposts server to support du’s ambitions of accelerating digital transformation across the region.
Saleem AlBlooshi, Chief Technology Officer (CTO) of du, said:“Our collaboration with Nokia and AWS supports our ambitions to deliver exceptional network performance and innovative services. 5G Cloud RAN will enhance our network’s efficiency and flexibility and enable us to explore new opportunities and services that can deliver genuine value to our customers and society at large.”
Under this collaboration, du will deploy Nokia’s Cloud RAN solution using AWS’s cloud services to explore and develop key use cases in wireless networks as well as the RAN Edge, providing du with maximum flexibility for the commercial deployment of Cloud RAN. These architecture options will introduce Cloud RAN alongside du’s purpose-built network, maintaining feature and performance consistency. The Nokia Cloud RAN architecture will be deployed using a microservices-based Cloud RAN software running on AWS cloud infrastructure with on-premises AWS Outposts, thereby combining the best-in-class solutions from AWS and Nokia while maximizing not just feature and performance parity, but spectral efficiency.
The solution will leverage the AWS cloud continuum across the du 5G network, expanding to the furthest edge while delivering a common automation, observability and security framework. This ensures faster time to market for monetizing new use cases for du. With low-latency transport, du will test centralized and distributed workload deployments using on-premises AWS Outpost servers at RAN sites. Alongside AWS Outposts, AWS’s cloud Continuum – spanning regions and outposts – will enable du to support diverse architectures and use cases. du also plans to leverage Amazon EKS and AWS Telco Network Builder (TNB) for scalable management and automation across deployment models.
Amir Rao, Director for Telco 5G at AWS, said, “AWS is proud to collaborate on this journey with du and Nokia to help the cloudification of du’s network. We built our AWS Outposts Graviton3 based ARM RAN server keeping the cloud continuum in mind to bring the best of AWS services right at the far edge for critical latency sensitive RAN software. This gives our customers the maximum flexibility in designing their RAN architecture without compromising on operations, security and features.”
Mark Atkinson, Senior Vice President and Head of Radio Access Networks at Nokia: “This successful collaboration with du and AWS confirms that our anyRAN approach provides a flexible path to scalable benefits with hybrid and cloud-based RAN architectures, which is important in the dynamic and competitive UAE market. Together with our industry-leading technology partners, we support Cloud RAN evolution based on the business priorities of our customers, enabling new revenue models and monetization options.”
This collaboration highlight’s du’s innovative hybrid RAN strategy which seamlessly integrates existing purpose-built infrastructure with cloud-native solutions to deliver unparalleled flexibility and scalability. A hybrid RAN approach meets the UAE’s dynamic digital needs and supports the development of advanced edge use cases, and industry-specific applications in manufacturing, energy, and logistics using AI and machine learning technologies.
