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“None of them at this stage are close to making a decision, nor do they have to, because they still have time to figure things out. We’re in discussions with every one of them, as are our competitors.”

But a decision must be made soon if Canadian operators, already seen as a “little behind” the global push for 5G, want to launch the next-generation networks on a wider scale by early 2021 when the required spectrum is deployed.

Nokia executives said they expect Canadian carriers to make a decision by the end of the year so they have enough time to ship, install, configure and test their new network equipment.

Nokia, the world’s second-largest telecom equipment supplier behind Huawei, has about 2,400 employees in Canada, the vast majority (about 2,300) in research and development in Ottawa. But it recently doubled its software sales team as it vies to expand beyond the traditional market for radio gear, Nokia Software North America vice president Andrea Austin said.

“It’s not just about radio. We sell a lot of other things,” Herald said, adding that Nokia works with all the major carriers on a variety of gear.

Even though Bell and Telus chose Huawei as their 4G supplier, Nokia said it has a “very good relationship” with the companies. When it comes to 5G, Nokia’s sales pitch is for an end-to-end solution, including software, that embeds security at every step of the development process.