Nokia and BT Cellnet sign £300 million nationwide mobile network expansion deal in the UK

Nokia and BT Cellnet, the UK's second largest digital mobile operator, have signed a deal valued at more than £300 million for the supply of a range of Nokia GSM base stations, related equipment and services. The agreement is effective immediately and will run until March 2003.

The deal, which is an extension of Nokia's existing business with BT Cellnet, means Nokia continues as the main base station supplier for their GSM mobile network, which covers almost 99 per cent of the UK population. The deliveries will cover a versatile range of Nokia's GSM base stations for indoor and outdoor mobile service.

BT Cellnet have ordered the Nokia UltraSite base station solution, which answers the increasing demand for higher voice and data traffic in today's mobile networks. An industry-leading product, Nokia UltraSite can support GSM, High Speed Data, GPRS, EDGE and WCDMA for 3G technologies.

The deal also includes the supply of the Nokia MetroSite base station that can be used at completely new types of sites, such as billboards, bus stops and lampposts that are not feasible with traditional systems. For the expansion of BT Cellnet's indoor GSM services, the Nokia InSite Base Stations will be supplied; these are small and discreet enough to be installed virtually anywhere, speeding up rollout and significantly cutting deployment costs.

As part of the project, Nokia will provide a package of Professional Services to help keep the network operating at peak performance and help reduce lifetime system costs to a minimum. These services cover the complete support and maintenance of the Nokia supplied network equipment including System Support, Hardware Services and Software Maintenance.

"The Nokia platforms will not only helps us to manage our network more effectively, both operationally and financially, but allows us to address the rapid growth in the UK mobile market and demand for high capacity and quality networks," said Peter Erskine, Managing Director, BT Cellnet. "BT Cellnet has continued to show strong growth, in voice and mobile Internet services and new kinds of mobile phone users are emerging. Their grasp of the benefits of new mobile data technologies is important in our success and the expansion of our network with Nokia will enable us to remain as a leader in the UK."

"This deal is a significant step forward in our relationship", said Simon Beresford-Wylie, Vice President, Global Customers, BT, "With emerging mobile data services, it is essential to keep the pace and invest in reliable, field-proven and future-proof solutions. We are delighted to be working closely with BT Cellnet in delivering new systems which will enable them to enhance the capacity and quality of the network, and offer substantial cost benefits as they continue to develop mobile Internet services."

Nokia offers total GSM systems, with everything from radio networks and switching as well as extensive services and network management solutions for building, efficiently operating and developing these networks. Nokia ranks as one of the world´s leading suppliers of GSM networks and currently supplies GSM technology to 96 operators in 44 countries.

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 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 one of the most broadly held companies in the world with listings on six major exchanges.

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

BT Cellnet Press Office, +44 1753 565656