Nokia and US telecommunications service provider AT&T have extended their voice core relationship as part of a multi-year deal.

The move comes as the US operator seeks to strengthen its customer-centric networks and increase automation and operational efficiency to promote new services.

AT&T will use the Finnish telecoms giant’s voice core applications through the Nokia Cloud Platform (NCP) to simplify network tasks, improve automation, and minimise manual intervention, as the US operator upgrades the existing Nokia IMS Voice Core to include Voice over New Radio (VoNR).

The upgraded IMS Voice Core is a fully cloud-native architecture that enables flexible scaling and increased automation to improve AT&T's time to market with new services and achieve greater cost savings.

Nokia's NCP aims to facilitate digital transformation by providing a robust, scalable and secure infrastructure for T&TT's network.

Key benefits of the Nokia platform include scalability and high availability for core network applications, a robust security framework including encryption, role-based access control, centralised logging and monitoring, and automation features, the company said.

AT&T said it will also use Nokia Digital Operations software solutions, which are open and designed for multi-vendor networks, to help automate the design, delivery and assurance of customer services at scale.

Key components of the software include an orchestration centre to manage the design and deployment of services and network portions; an assurance centre that monitors and enhances performance with artificial intelligence tools to proactively detect and resolve problems; and a unified inventory.

Yigal Elbaz, senior vice president, technology and network services at AT&T, said: “We are pleased to continue our relationship with Nokia to further optimise our network operations and enable new services that better support our customers’ evolving needs.”

Raghav Sahgal, president of cloud and network Services at Nokia, added: “Through our network solutions, Nokia will boost AT&T’s network agility, efficiency, and service offerings.”

In September 2024, Nokia and AT&T announced a multi-year agreement to deploy next-generation fibre access technology.

Nokia will provide its Lightspan MF and Altiplano platforms to support one of the world's largest fibre networks. The five-year agreement includes upgrading the fibre network to AT&T's current footprint and next-generation fibre technologies for future network expansions.

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