Nokia today announced that volume deliveries of EDGE hardware across all major GSM bands and in all continents have commenced. This marks another major milestone for Nokia, which became the first vendor to ship EDGE network hardware in volumes.
The first shipments took place in the Americas in the end of 2001, and during the first half 2002 deliveries began to networks in Europe and Asia, with full production capability achieved by mid-2002.
EDGE (enhanced data rates for global evolution) features are part of the GSM specifications and it is a 3G technology defined by ITU and 3GPP. EDGE is an important part of the smooth evolution to GSM/GPRS/EDGE/WCDMA multiradio networks. Together EDGE and WCDMA ensure fastest adoption of 3G multimedia services for all mobile subscribers
With EDGE, operators can provide consumers with a three-fold increase in data-rates and capacity through their GSM/GPRS networks, boosting the revenues generated by operators from the GSM frequencies and reducing the cost of building new capacity for the increasing usage of attractive data services. EDGE offers full backwards compatibility to GSM/GPRS services.
"EDGE enjoys the proven benefits of GSM technology, such as openness, cost-efficiency through economies of scale and true global footprint and roaming, and will become an integral part of GSM/GPRS and WCDMA terminals," explains Jussi Wäre, Vice President Marketing &Sales, Nokia Networks.
To support operators preparing their networks for EDGE launches, Nokia has started deliveries of GSM/EDGE capable carrier units to Nokia UltraSite EDGE Base Stations on all GSM frequency bands (800, 900, 1800 and 1900MHz).
"EDGE is a natural next step enhancement for all GSM/GPRS networks in boosting the performance of the existing data services as well as enabling a rich range of multimedia services, which is why mobile operators across the world are increasingly opting for EDGE," continues Wäre.
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed broadband and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.
Contact information:
Global Communications Department, Nokia Networks
Tel. + 358 (0) 7180 38711
Email nokia.networks@nokia.com
www.nokia.com