Nokia has been recognized as a leader in small cells technology in two key industry analyst reports. Gartner, Inc. has recognized Nokia in the 'Leaders' quadrant of its 2016 Magic Quadrant for Small Cell Equipment report and in an independent survey of 21 operators conducted by IHS - representing the largest global service providers by revenue - Nokia has been named the number one small cells vendor.
Gartner's Magic Quadrant evaluates small cell vendors on an annual basis. Of the 16 vendors evaluated in 2016, Gartner recognized Nokia as a Leader and positioned the company the furthest for "completeness of vision", which assesses a vendor's product and market strategies, and innovation, among other categories. Nokia believes that the report highlights the strengths in its portfolio of high-performance solutions and its capabilities to support Unlicensed LTE, Wi-Fi and Mobile Edge Computing.
In the IHS survey 95 percent of the operators questioned named Nokia as the "top small cell equipment manufacturer", with all respondents citing Nokia as the small cells vendor most familiar to them. The report also found that Nokia has the largest installed base of small cells, with many of those operators surveyed stating they were evaluating Nokia "for equipment to be added to their networks by July 2017". Sixty percent of respondents rated Nokia as the leader in seven out of the eight buying criteria evaluated.
Nokia believes these reports underline the importance of its small cells and HetNet services, which include mini-macro, micro, pico and femto solutions for licensed and unlicensed spectrum, help operators evolve toward ultra-dense networks and 5G at a pace that stays ahead of customer demand.
Nokia has more than 220 customers for its small cells solutions around the globe, including most major operators. The Nokia small cell portfolio is deployed in a range of scenarios within multi-vendor and Nokia macro level networks, including extending coverage in cities and rural locations and providing capacity to meet demands in high-traffic hotspots, mass events, and inside public and private enterprise buildings. Nokia continuously invests in product innovation to help operators with coverage and capacity densification, such as the award winning Flexi Zone Multiband Indoor and Outdoor BTS family.