Nokia's first 3G phone on track for first-half 2003 deliveries
Shipments for operator testing of Nokia's first WCDMA 3G phone, the Nokia 6650, began in October 2002. The company has already delivered approximately 10,000 globally to operators such as J-Phone / Vodafone, Orange, Sonera, T-Mobile and Vodafone, as well as to infrastructure vendors Ericsson, Nokia Networks, Nortel Networks and Siemens for live network optimization and interoperability testing (IOT). This is clearly showing the way towards commercial WCDMA 3G shipments during the first half of this year.
Key infrastructure vendors such as Ericsson, Nokia Networks, Nortel Networks and Siemens have also successfully achieved 3G-2G IOT for intersystem voice hand-over with the Nokia 6650, demonstrating interoperability and a smooth evolutionary transition from 2G to 3G ecosystems.
Mobilizing enterprise workforce
Bringing the benefits of mobility to the enterprise segment, Nokia announced separate initiatives with IBM and Oracle to provide customers with mobile e-business and collaboration solutions. These include enabling wireless access and synchronization of e-mail, contacts and calendar as well as file management and search capabilities. IBM also announced that it would develop and deploy its WebSphere Everyplace Access Client for the Symbian operating system, which is becoming an increasingly significant enterprise-class platform.
Nokia made its Nokia One Mobile Connectivity Service available to operators for their enterprise customers, offering full access to e-mail and personal information management through any device on any network.
Strong progress in Nokia 3G networks
In mobile infrastructure, Nokia is focusing increasingly on testing its WCDMA/GSM network equipment for integration into a multivendor environment. So far, the interoperability of Nokia's commercial WCDMA network has been successfully verified with the equipment of six different network suppliers and with eight different mobile terminals. The company's WCDMA/GSM intersystem handover has also been tested with all the terminal and network suppliers supporting this functionality.
During the first half of 2003, Nokia will trial its EDGE system capabilities in 15 commercial networks. Nokia plans to have EDGE as a standard feature in most of its new GPRS phones from the second half of this year onwards. In addition to the Nokia 6200 EDGE phone, launched in November 2002, the number and variety of Nokia EDGE terminals will rapidly increase in 2003.
Bringing new services and cost-efficiencies to operators
Nokia introduced Intelligent Edge for mobile operators, a new 'service-aware' capability to enhance existing packet core networks. Intelligent Edge helps operators add value to basic connectivity services by offering different services at different prices based on demand rather than charging a fixed price-per-bit for all traffic.
Nokia, together with other leading manufacturers announced 'push to talk' - a direct-call solution for GPRS and EDGE systems using the IP Multimedia Subsystem. This instant two-way communication service provides cellular operators with a completely new cost-effective means of connecting people. It is also being jointly developed at industry level, thereby ensuring an open and multivendor environment.
Series 60 business system expands
In mobile software, Nokia has formed a product creation community around the Series 60 Platform. The community brings together semiconductor and software integration companies with optimized skill and expertise to assist Series 60 handset manufacturers in the creation of advanced smart phones. The Series 60 Product Creation Community will benefit manufacturers with reduced time-to-market and development costs while bringing rich, interoperable features and functionality to the software platform. Nokia has also signed a resell agreement with Sun Micrososystems on digital content delivery for mobile applications and services.
Strong progress in 3G both on the handset and infrastructure side, together with a range of initiatives aimed at promoting openness, interoperability and cost savings will be a forceful combination in moving the mobile industry towards a new era of mobility in 2003.
About Nokia
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 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.
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