2degrees and Nokia accelerate delivery of 5G services and improve network efficiency in New Zealand

Press Release 

2degrees and Nokia accelerate delivery of 5G services and improve network efficiency in New Zealand

• 2degrees and Nokia sign six-year deal to utilize Nokia’s containerized Cloud Native Communication Suite (CNCS).

• CNCS, through the Nokia Cloud Platform, will streamline network activities, enhance automation, and minimize manual intervention across 2degrees’ network.

• CNCS will be deployed on the Nokia Cloud Platform, which integrates a full set of Red Hat cloud products, including Red Hat OpenShift.

31 March 2025

Espoo, Finland – 2degrees is expanding its Voice Core relationship with Nokia in a six-year deal in which the New Zealand operator will tap Nokia’s containerized (CNCS) to accelerate the deployment of new 5G services and optimize its network resources.

CNCS makes it easier for operators like 2degrees to deploy multiple vendors’ applications on the same cloud infrastructure, streamline network activities, enhance automation, and minimize manual intervention. 2degrees will utilize CNCS to bring together multiple IMS voice 3GPP functionalities into a single cloud-native network function. It will be deployed on the , which integrates a full set of Red Hat cloud products, including Red Hat OpenShift.*

“We are happy to expand our relationship with Nokia as we continue to modernize our network,” said Stephen Kurzeja, CTIO at 2degrees. “This provides us with a much-simplified Core architecture that enables new monetization and innovation pathways to enhance the subscriber experience and further optimize how 2degrees manages its network with new automation tools.”

As the industry's leading hybrid cloud application platform powered by Kubernetes, Red Hat OpenShift is integrated into the Nokia Cloud Platform to provide cloud-native and scalable infrastructure. By integrating with Red Hat OpenShift, operators have the option to scale their 5G network footprint and quickly introduce new services with enhanced capacity, performance, life cycle management, automation, and energy management.

The modernization will provide 2degrees with reduced infrastructure and carbon footprint, and lower operational costs through streamlined life cycle management. CNCS improves energy efficiency by about 10 percent to 20 percent, relative to a standard IMS Voice Core, according to Nokia data.

“We are pleased to extend our collaboration with 2degrees with Nokia’s flexible and reliable cloud-native CNCS architecture. This will enable the roll-out of new innovative services more quickly, securely, and without limitations in multi-cloud environments to meet the evolving and more demanding connectivity needs of 2degrees’ customers,” said Wilson Maria, Head of Cloud and Network Services, Oceania at Nokia.

As part of the agreement, 2degrees will integrate Nokia’s MantaRay Network Management solution for a consolidated network view that optimizes network monitoring and management.

2degrees already leverages a variety of other Nokia 5G Core networking functions like , where data is stored, through NCP, which reflects Nokia’s multi-cloud strategy of providing operators with the infrastructure of their choice.

Nokia leads the world in 5G SA Core Networks, with 55% of live deployments utilizing the company’s software, according to a compilation of industry data. Nokia ended 2024 with the most 5G Standalone Core communication service provider customers, with 123 in total. The Nokia Core Network portfolio is fully cloud-native across the board, which makes it much easier for operators to run their full 4G/5G Core in cloud-native network functions.

*Red Hat, the Red Hat logo and OpenShift are trademarks or registered trademarks of Red Hat, Inc. or its subsidiaries in the U.S. and other countries.

About Nokia

At Nokia, we create technology that helps the world act together.

As a B2B technology innovation leader, we are pioneering networks that sense, think and act by leveraging our work across mobile, fixed and cloud networks. In addition, we create value with intellectual property and long-term research, led by the award-winning Nokia Bell Labs, which is celebrating 100 years of innovation.

With truly open architectures that seamlessly integrate into any ecosystem, our high-performance networks create new opportunities for monetization and scale. Service providers, enterprises and partners worldwide trust Nokia to deliver secure, reliable and sustainable networks today – and work with us to create the digital services and applications of the future.

About 2degrees

2degrees is a leading full-service telecommunications provider, committed to fighting for fair for Kiwis and businesses. Since its launch, 2degrees has been on a mission to disrupt the market, standing up for fairness and flexibility in an industry that needed.2degrees is backed by award-winning customer service, and delivers innovative solutions, allowing customers to choose the connectivity options that suit them best.

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