Under the contract, Nokia will supply a complete range of transmission and base station equipment, including one of the the world's most powerful mobile switches - the DX 200 "i-series" Transit Mobile Switching Center (MSCi) and Nokia MetroSite High Capacity base stations.
This seventh expansion will bring the total capacity of the M1 GSM 900 network to around 500,000 subscribers. As part of the deal, Nokia will also supply its Nokia Artus USSD (Unstructured Supplementary Services Data) Center, an application platform for offering interactive messaging services, as well as software upgrades and a complete range of engineering services and training.
Chief Executive Officer of M1, Neil Montefiore said: "The voice and data traffic in our network is continuing to show strong growth and we have to be a step ahead in providing the required capacity for growth. This agreement with Nokia means M1 will continue to offer competitive, advanced services, laying the ground more diverse future applications."
The business environment is changing for operators such as M1, as mobile data meets IP, to enable more advanced services to be delivered to the mass market," said Heinz Brasic, General Manager, Nokia Networks, Singapore. "We are pleased to continue our partnership with M1 in satisfying the demands for capacity in Singapore, at every stage of their network evolution."
M1, Singapore's most exciting and innovative mobile and paging service provider, is a consortium comprising the Keppel Group, Singapore Press Holdings, Cable & Wireless and Cable & Wireless HKT.
Nokia has been working with M1 since its service launch in 1997.
Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. Nokia is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks including related services. It also supplies multimedia terminals and computer displays. In 1998, net sales totaled EUR 13.3 billion (USD 15.7 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 53 000 people.