Nokia and Malaysian operator TIMECel today signed a frame agreement estimated to be worth over 40 million EUR for the supply and installation of a full GSM 1800 infrastructure to expand the company's network capacity as well as improve coverage.
TIMECel will expand its GSM 1800 network capacity and coverage to cater to aggressive subscriber growth, enhance network quality through anetwork optimisation program and upgrade its Short Messaging Service Centre (SMSC) to cater to the surge in SMS traffic.
Delieveries are due to commence during fourth quarter this year and the network is expected to be operational during first quarter 2002.
Nokia will also provide its 3G-ready Nokia UltraSite base station solution which answers the increasing demand for higher voice and data traffic in today's mobile networks and evolution to the Mobile Internet era. An industry-leading product, Nokia UltraSite can support GSM, EDGE and WCDMA technologies. Deliveries will start immediately. The current upgrade will put TIMECel in a competitive position for 3G as it will be able to upgrade its network easily to WCDMA.
In addition to the supply of end-to-end network equipment, Nokia will provide its Network Deployment Package for the network build-out. The agreement also covers Care services with the Nokia OptiCare(TM) Package to maximise service quality through the optimisation of network maintenance, network performance and competence development.
"This is a solid evidence of the continuous effort by TIMECel to deliver the best of the class service quality to the end users," says Robert Fox, Chief Operating Officer of TIME DotCom Bhd., the parent company of TIMECel. "This also further reinforces our recognition that network quality is the fundamental requirement for the more content-rich Mobile Internet Applications that are in the pipeline."
"For Nokia, this agreement forms another cornerstone of our strong partnership with TIMECel," adds Hannu Karavirta, Managing Director, Nokia Malaysia. "We are fully confident with regard to the shaping of the Mobile Information Society in Malaysia and will continue to spearhead the development of local mobile Internet applications."
TIME Cel 017 is the premier mobile service operated by Malaysia's leading integrated communications solutions provider. TIME's mobile offerings include a comprehensive range of products and services amongst which are TIMECel GPRS, TIME WAP and other value added services such as TIMECel Voice Greeting Service.
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secured 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.
Further information:
Communications Department, Nokia Networks
Tel. + 358 7180 38195
E-mail nokia.networks@nokia.com
www.nokia.com