Belgian telco goes live with SaaS-based commercial 5G service

Nokia has announced what it says is the world’s first commercial mobile service on 5G Core SaaS, powered by Nokia and Amazon Web Services (AWS), is now live with Belgium’s Citymesh.

The software-as-a-service model, which transforms core networks and their operations into flexible, subscription-based services, is designed to reduce the upfront capital investment and operational complexity of traditional network deployments. It delivers catalogue-based service creation, on-demand network capabilities and rapid feature deployment, with predictable cost control through subscription pricing and pay-as-you-grow infrastructure.

Citymesh is using Nokia’s Core SaaS for Business, running on AWS’s global cloud infrastructure, to serve enterprises across venues and events, airports, hospitals, offshore settlements, first responders, drone operators and transportation sectors, and to power its new mobile offering for self-employed professionals and subject matter experts. The solution allows Citymesh to design intuitive, customised service plans without having to conduct extensive telecommunications engineering or ongoing integration work.

Running on AWS global cloud infrastructure provides the scalability to handle unpredictable demand spikes across diverse enterprise environments without requiring upfront infrastructure investments. The platform’s multi-region architecture ensures telecommunications-grade availability, while comprehensive security controls meet stringent industry requirements.

“Launching the world’s first commercial 5G Core SaaS service is a major milestone for Citymesh,” said Robin Leblon, Chief Technology Officer at Citymesh. “With Nokia’s Core SaaS on AWS, we can scale faster, reduce complexity and upfront investment, and deliver secure, high-performance connectivity tailored to our enterprise customers. And what’s more, it allows us to develop a telecom offering tailored for all businesses, including the self-employed and SMEs.”

Nokia says its Core SaaS for Business delivers telecom-grade reliability with AWS security and performance across a comprehensive service catalogue, including 4G and 5G core, network slicing, IMS core, IoT services, automation and security capabilities. Operators scale capacity on demand without managing hardware while exposing network capabilities through APIs (application programming interfaces).

“Telecom SaaS represents a paradigm shift in the telecommunications industry. Partnering with leaders like AWS helps us deliver cloud-native infrastructure that makes advanced connectivity simple and intuitive for providers, allowing them to subscribe to services only when needed and growing their spend with demand,” said Kal De, SVP, Product & Engineering, Core Software at Nokia.

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