OKLAHOMA CITY-Dobson Communications Corp. signed $10 million in contracts with L.M. Ericsson and Nortel Networks Ltd. to upgrade the carrier’s current TDMA-based network in Alaska with GSM/GPRS/EDGE technology and said it expects to spend an additional $3.5 million next year to further enhance network capacity and efficiency.
The contract calls for Ericsson to supply GSM/GRPS base station infrastructure for the Alaska project and for Nortel to supply a new GSM/GPRS switch in Anchorage.
Dobson said it currently offers Cellular One-branded wireless service covering 92 percent of Alaska’s population, including the recent acquisition of the Anchorage MSA and Alaska RSA 2 from AT&T Wireless Services Inc. in exchange for Dobson’s properties in California.
