Europe : Nokia and Austrian operator mobilkom austria have signed an agreement for the renewal and expansion of mobilkom austria's GSM network in several regions of Austria. The deal also includes an upgrade to EDGE. In the scope of the contract, Nokia provides EDGE technology equipment and a range of services including BSC implementations and network optimization support.

Under this extension of an existing agreement, Nokia supplies mobilkom austria with EDGE to provide broadband connectivity complementary to UMTS. Deliveries have already begun, and EDGE-based wireless broadband services have just been launched in Austria. Mobilkom austria is the only operator in Austria offering EDGE and is in a unique position to offer high data rates in the whole country.

"With the implementation of EDGE, in addition to UMTS, we are the first in Austria to offer coverage for high-speed data services. We have chosen Nokia as a partner for implementing EDGE as we are convinced by the long-standing business relationship and the maturity of Nokia's technical solutions," says Boris Nemsic, CEO mobilkom austria and COO Wireless Telekom Austria.

"By introducing EDGE, in addition to UMTS, mobilkom austria is on the forefront of service quality. We are proud to have been selected by the Austrian market leader to take this step together," says Jaakko Myllymäki, Head of Sub-Area Central and Eastern Europe, Networks, Nokia.

Nokia has been one of mobilkom austria's suppliers of GSM network equipment since 1997.