MUNICH, Germany-Siemens AG announced it has set up a third-generation High Speed Downlink Packet Access testing network for Telkomsel, an Indonesian mobile operator, and plans to test broadband and multimedia services on the network during the next six months.
Siemens said the 3G test network is comprised of HSDPA-capable W-CDMA base stations, 2G/3G packet and circuit switches and multimedia-enabling platforms, all of which integrate seamlessly into Telkomsel’s GSM network. Siemens said it is providing network design, rollout, integration and optimization, as well as operational and technical support.
“Siemens and Telkomsel can look back on a very successful 10-year partnership. Together, we made the first GSM call on Indonesian soil, introduced the region’s first IN prepaid service, and Siemens is again the first to provide Telkomsel with 3G coverage. At the end of 2003, Siemens had already demonstrated a live 3G network as a pilot network in Jakarta,” said Christoph Caselitz, head of Mobile Networks at Siemens.
Telkomsel plans to offer its first commercial 3G services by early 2006. Telkomsel has about 21 million customers in Indonesia, a country with a mobile penetration rate of 19 percent and a population of 240 million spread across thousands of islands.
