(Adds details on Vodafone's stalled merger, CEO statement,
background on Nokia's recent 5G contract)
Dec 30 (Reuters) - Vodafone's broadband services
joint venture with Hutchison Telecommunications (Australia) Ltd
has partnered with Nokia to roll out 5G
services in Australia, the companies said on Monday.
The 5G drive comes as the joint venture is caught in a legal
appeal process against an antitrust regulator's move to block
its proposed A$15 billion mega-merger with TPG Telecom Ltd
.
In a joint statement, the companies said Vodafone Hutchison
Australia, the 50-50 joint venture, would kick off its 5G
rollout in the first half of 2020 with Nokia as the network
vendor.
"They (Nokia) presented a compelling roadmap that aligned
with our 5G objectives and will help us to continue improving
our 4G network for our customers," Vodafone Chief Executive
Officer IƱaki Berroeta said in the statement.
The Finnish telecom network equipment maker has already
built a test network to demonstrate its 5G technology, and those
sites will become the first area of commercial coverage for
Vodafone's 5G network.
The partnership was the final step in a long process,
Vodafone's Berroeta said, following the security guidance given
by the country's federal government in August 2018.
Australia expanded its national security rules to exclude
telecommunication equipment suppliers that it believes have ties
to foreign governments, a move that disallowed Huawei
Technologies Co Ltd from the country's 5G rollout.
Nokia has been a beneficiary of restrictions in Western
nations on market access to Huawei over allegations that China
could use its equipment for espionage, a charge that Huawei has
repeatedly denied.
Most recently, Spark New Zealand Ltd abandoned
plans to rely on Huawei exclusively for the rollout of 5G
services, choosing the 5G rollout with Nokia instead.
(Reporting by Rashmi Ashok in Bengaluru; Editing by Peter
Cooney)