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PARIS-Nortel Networks Ltd. has won a $200 million, 15-year GSM-Railway contract with French railway operator SNCF. The new system will handle all voice and data communications for train operations within 15,000 kilometers of track and replace the existing analog radio system.
The project will be under way by mid-2004 on the new Eastern France High Speed Line, and service to railway operators is expected to be delivered on the first commercial lines by end-2005.
GSM-R technology is a radio communications system that uses standard GSM technology customized for railway operations. GPRS is a major part of the technology for data transport, Nortel said.
