Here's an announcement from Nokia Siemens this morning on work they're doing with Elisa in Finland and Estonia to improve mobile network capacity. Given the geographic relationship of these two companies in Finland, this makes perfect sense. It also provides another example of how 3GPP network services are improving more rapidly in other parts of the world than they are here in the US.

Elisa chooses Nokia Siemens Networks’ core network for higher capacity and convenient Internet access

Espoo, Finland – November 7th, 2007

Nokia Siemens Networks is providing Elisa with its industry leading MSC Server System mobile softswitch solution as part of Elisa’s drive to upgrade its mobile networks in Finland and Estonia.

Espoo, Finland – Elisa has chosen to deploy the Nokia Siemens Networks MSC Server solution in an agreement that strengthens Nokia Siemens Networks’ position as Elisa’s circuit core network vendor. Deployment of the 3GPP-compliant mobile softswitching solution has been completed and the solution, which includes MSC Servers and Multimedia Gateways, is already operational in Elisa’s network.

Elisa undertook the upgrade of its switching infrastructure in order to meet growing demand and recognized the MSC Server System as the best and most cost effective means to boost switching capacity. The MSC Server was implemented as an upgrade to Elisa’s existing MSC switches previously supplied by Nokia.

“The development of our core network is crucial to Elisa’s future success as our call traffic continues to increase,” says Kirsi Valtari, Vice President for Production, Elisa. “Implementing a 3GPP Release 4 architecture will improve our overall network capacity, and optimize the costs of providing voice services.”

“We’re extremely pleased to be continuing as Elisa’s supplier of core network infrastructure,” says Jürgen Walter, head of Service Core and Applications, Nokia Siemens Networks. “For us, it’s a clear endorsement of Nokia Siemens Networks’ strong offering in this space, especially our MSC Server System, which also lays the groundwork for the evolution toward IP-based networks.”

Under the agreement, Nokia Siemens Networks supplies its MSC Server System, which supports 3GPP Release 4, 5 and 6 features which provide support for SIP services, interworking with IP Multimedia Subsystem, and convergence voice services such as VoIP over WiFi or broadband access.

Software maintenance and hardware repair services are also included in the deal. These services are designed to safeguard Elisa's network investment with proper incident management and issue resolution as well as to ensure optimum platform health, allowing the network to stay competitive and reliable by keeping all network equipment operating.

With close to 180 customers for its MSC Server System deployed live in close to 100 networks, Nokia Siemens Networks is clearly the most experienced mobile softswitching supplier worldwide.

About Elisa
Elisa Corporation is a leading Finnish communications service company. Elisa offers its private, corporate and institutional customers voice and telecommunication services, customised communications services solutions and network operator services. Elisa is the broadband market leader in Finland. It has over 1.3 million fixed line subscriptions, of which broadband subscriptions comprise over 518,000. Elisa is a forerunner in providing new mobile and content services, and it has over 2.3 million mobile phone subscribers. Elisa is listed on the Helsinki Exchanges, its revenue for 2006 amounted to EUR 1.52 billion and it has 3,200 employees.

Elisa offers services through the Elisa, Saunalahti and Kolumbus trademarks, and internationally in association with its partners Vodafone and Telenor. www.elisa.com

About Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of communications services. The company provides a complete, well-balanced product portfolio of mobile and fixed network infrastructure solutions and addresses the growing demand for services with 20,000 service professionals worldwide. Nokia Siemens Networks is one of the largest telecommunications infrastructure companies with operations in 150 countries. The company is headquartered in Espoo, Finland.
www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com