Nokia has announced that it has completed the change out of 2000 GSM base stations for O2, and is now the sole supplier of 2G base stations to the operator. O2’s previous incarnation, BT Cellnet, sourced much of its 2G technology from Motorola, which was not one of the companies shortlisted for 3G supply contracts in April 2002.
The two companies who were shortlisted were Nortel and Nokia, who have both just announced further details of their 3G network supply contracts with the operator.
Nokia’s change out of previous 2G infrastructure was partly done with the aim of improving optimisation and interoperabilty between the 2G and 3G network.
Nokia is providing 3G coverage specifically within the M25 London motorway ring area. Nortel Networks will supply O2 with products from its Base Transceiver Station (BTS), Mobile Switching Center (MSC), Radio Network Controller (RNC), and Data Server Node (GGSN, SGSN) technology portfolios.
O2 has expanded Nortel Networks’ role as a 3G infrastructure supplier to deploy UMTS radio equipment in Eastern and Southern Germany (including Berlin) and across most regions of the British Isles. Nortel Networks was previously selected by O2 to provide GPRS and UMTS core networks.
Infrastructure deployments will expand network coverage into new regions in the UK and Germany, and position O2 to drive new revenue opportunities by offering advanced data services like mobile email, video calling, mobile Internet browsing, and Multi Media Services (MMS) including streaming video and localised, personalised content.
“We are pleased to be building out the system that will bring high-speed 3G services to our Irish, German and UK customers and we chose Nokia’s 3G system thanks to its good performance and the solidity of its system roadmap,” said Dave Williams, Chief Technology Officer, O2.
“We are happy to be working with O2 in bringing 3G to some of the world’s premier markets for advanced mobile multimedia services,” Peter Kühne, vice president, Networks, Nokia, said.Â
Peter MacKinnon, president GSM/UMTS at Nortel Networks, said. “We are delighted with O2’s decision to expand the scope of our contribution to their European network. Nortel Networks extensive experience in deploying large-scale wideband wireless networks gives us a big advantage in turning up UMTS in a rapid, cost-effective manner.”