Nokia To Modernize Microwave Communications Network Of Cleco

Nokia (HE:NOKIA) Corporation (NYSE:NOK) recently inked an agreement with utility firm — Cleco Holdings — to modernize the latter’s microwave communications network to better serve customers. The deal is expected to improve the operational efficiency of Cleco by replacing its legacy hybrid radio equipment with Nokia’s state-of-the-art packet-based architecture. This, in turn, is likely to provide the utility firm with the scalability and flexibility to support the mission-critical communication businesses of its customers.

Leveraging microwave packet radio technology and Microwave Packet Transceiver Plus platform, Nokia will offer Cleco the wherewithal to cater to the evolving demands of about 290,000 customers in Louisiana and Mississippi. At the same time, the infrastructure upgrade will provide the requisite backhaul of the digital mobile radio system that is critical to the safety of its customers and more than 1,300 employees.

Nokia will utilize its Wavence microwave packet radio portfolio for the transition to advanced Internet Protocol (IP)-based networks from the existing time division multiplexing technology. Nokia Wavence offers the most advanced radio technologies and multi-frequency carrier aggregation for multi-gigabit, low latency microwave transport. It will facilitate Cleco to expand its network capacity without installing new antenna, and without forcing a disruption of existing communications, thus reducing costs and facilitating a seamless migration to IP.

With such coveted deals, Nokia facilitates its customers to move away from an economy-of-scale network operating model to demand-driven operations by offering easy programmability and flexible automation needed to support dynamic operations, reduce complexity and improve efficiency. The company seeks to expand its business into targeted, high-growth and high-margin vertical markets to address growth opportunities beyond its traditional primary markets.

In addition, Nokia is driving the transition of global enterprises into smart virtual networks by creating a single network for all services, converging mobile and fixed broadband, IP routing and optical networks with the software and services to manage them. Leveraging state-of-the-art technology, the company is transforming the way people and things communicate and connect with each other. These include seamless transition to 5G technology, ultra-broadband access, IP and Software Defined Networking, cloud applications and IoT.

The stock has declined 16.6% in the past year on an average, while the industry rallied 8.6%. Nevertheless, we remain impressed with the inherent long-term growth potential of this Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) stock.

Some better-ranked stocks in the industry are Motorola Solutions, Inc. (NYSE:MSI) , Juniper Networks, Inc. (NYSE:JNPR) and Ubiquiti Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:UBNT) , each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Motorola has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 7.7%. It beat earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average being 9.1%.

Juniper has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 6.2%. It surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average positive surprise being 15.4%.

Ubiquiti has a long-term earnings growth expectation of 19.8%. It surpassed earnings estimates in each of the trailing four quarters, the average positive surprise being 22.3%.

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