Nokia, a major Finnish telecom gear vendor with a global presence, on Wednesday announced Core Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) for 5G. This is the 10th SaaS service from Nokia. A release from the company said that the communication service providers (CSPs) who leverage the new Core SaaS of Nokia would be able to deliver value to their customers and monetise network services faster. As per Nokia, the Core SaaS will allow the operators globally to shift from the legacy practice of deploying customised software which runs on private infrastructure. One of the biggest benefits of using the Core SaaS for telcos and enterprises would be to eliminate large upfront capital expenditures as the service from the company is more of an on-demand subscription. Leveraging Nokia’s Core SaaS would also remove any or all on-site software maintenance and updates, which would further contribute to reducing costs. The solution is not yet available. Currently, it is in the test phase, where the trials are expected to start soon, and the solution is expected to be commercially available in the first half of 2023. Nokia said that its Core SaaS is the first complete 5G core solution in the market with all the core cloud-native functions available through a SaaS delivery model. Fran Heeran, SVP & General Manager of Core Networks, Cloud and Network Services, at Nokia, said: “Nokia Core SaaS changes the way core networks are built, deployed and run, with important customer benefits that include Network on demand, speed to market, and easy and fast scaling, in an affordable way. Nokia Core SaaS is not the core network we’ve known for decades, but something entirely different. And this reflects the technology leadership Nokia continues to deliver to the market.”