Nokia delivers Nokia InSite Base Station solution to Vodafone Hungary – providing indoor coverage and capacity solution to its new headquarters

Nokia is to deliver its revolutionary radio access solution for indoor hot spots, the Nokia InSite Base Station solution, to Vodafone Hungary for its new headquarters in Budapest. The state-of-the-art Nokia InSite Base Station is the smallest GSM base station in the world and is optimized for indoor applications, enabling smooth growth of dedicated coverage to ensure a high-quality network.

Nokia InSite Base Stations have been delivered to almost 30 operators around the world with commercial deployment expected to commence in the third quarter of this year.

"For a large company like Vodafone Hungary dedicated indoor coverage helps improve our effectiveness in providing excellent services to customers and staff", said Mark McShane, Chief Technical Officer of Vodafone Hungary, "The Nokia InSite Base Station solution was chosen because it is both cost effective and unobtrusive as well as being state-of-the-art when it comes to dedicated indoor radio access coverage."

"Nokia is pleased to be working with Hungary's newest GSM operator in delivering this revolutionary radio access solution to Vodafone Hungary", said Kari Lahtinen, Managing Director of Nokia Networks in Hungary, "Nokia InSite Base Station helps operators to deliver coverage, capacity and quality cost efficiently in offices."

The agreement includes equipment supply, solution planning and implementation. The main innovative element of the contract is the Nokia InSite Base Station which is extremely small and lightweight: about one-tenth the size of alternative base stations, it takes up about the area of a single sheet of A4 paper and weighs only 2.4 kg. Its compact size, as well as low output power and noiseless operation, helps it blend easily into any office environment.

Nokia InSite can be installed virtually anywhere, speeding up rollout and significantly cutting deployment costs: it can be deployed in about one-tenth of the conventional time due to its "plug and play" wall mounted installation, small size and integrated design. In addition Nokia InSite Base Station can be combined with any of the Nokia GSM office solutions.

Nokia InSite Base Station supports automated network planning functionality, allowing the installation to be carried out by one engineer on a single site visit. In addition Nokia InSite Base Station will support GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) and is helping pave the way to the Mobile Information Society indoors.

Vodafone Hungary is the Hungarian affiliate of Vodafone AirTouch Plc., the world's largest mobile telecommunications company and the 25th largest company globally, with a current market capitalization of around GBP 95 billion (approximately USD 158.5 billion). Vodafone Hungary is owned by Vodafone AirTouch Plc (50.1%), RWE Telliance (19.9 %), Antenna Hungária (20%) and Magyar Posta (10%), won the license to build and operate GSM 900 / DCS 1800 mobile radio telephone network in Hungary in 1999 and launched its commercial service on 30th November, 1999. The company has already secured over 100,000 customers.

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, related services as well as multimedia terminals. In 1999, net sales totaled EUR 19.8 billion (USD 19.9 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 60,000 people.

Further information:
Communications Department, Nokia Networks
Tel. + 358 9 5113 8193, Fax + 358 9 5113 8199
Email nokia.networks@nokia.com
www.nokia.com