NEW ORLEANS-Nokia Corp. last week announced an infrastructure package that should reduce
costs and increase efficiency for Global System for Mobile communications carriers, now will be available in the
United States. The package components already are in use in Europe, said company officials.
The services, tools
and products were announced at Wireless ’99.
Nokia’s new High Capacity GSM System-for the Americas market-
offers more capacity, power and efficiency for GSM networks, according to the company. The improvements in the
High Capacity GSM System are possible because of a new mobile switching center, home location register, base-
station solution and planning tools.
The Nokia DX 200 “i-series” Mobile Switching Center more than
doubles existing capacity and can support up to 400,000 subscribers. MSCi has a compact design, which provides
carriers a cost incentive as it reduces required site size by up to 60 percent and offers up to 70-percent power savings.
The DX 200 “i-series” also includes high-capacity products for the HLR capable of supporting 1.2 million
subscribers. Nokia also is offering a small-market version of the new MSC, the Compact MSCi, which supports 50,000
subscribers.
Also part of the High Capacity GSM System, the company unveiled Nokia On-line Services, an
extranet interactive tool which shares technical information and supports competence development planning. The 24-
hour, 365-day service covers a variety of customer network needs including databases with network documents,
training information, problem resolution tools and millennium information.
The new base station package, Nokia
MetroSite, includes a high-capacity base station, base station controller, transmission node and two integrated radio
options for cellular transmission. The base station is small and lightweight enough to be deployed in a variety of sites
not normally considered with other systems-billboards, bus stops and lamp posts. This compact base station operates on
GSM 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1900 MHz frequencies. MetroSite is intended for use where call traffic is
dense.
Nokia also introduced the Nokia Totem suite of portable radio network planning tools. The product suite
consists of the Unix-based Nokia NPS/X and Windows-based Nokia Totem. The suite includes network measurement
systems which allow for a complete, highly scalable solution to meet a wide range of planning needs both in the office
and in the field, the company said.
Another product, Nokia MetroHopper Radio provides wireless access
transmission between the base station controller and the base station operating at the 58 GHz band. The product still
must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission.
Nokia also introduced new and upgraded handsets:
The Nokia 8800 series digital phones, for both Time Division Multiple Access and Code Division
Multiple Access networks. The 8800 series weighs less than 4 ounces and features a glossy chrome finish and sliding
keypad cover.
The phone also includes an integrated antenna, a first for a Nokia Americas product.
Two new
5100 series handset models, Nokia 5170 (CDMA 1900) and Nokia 5180 (CDMA 800/Advanced Mobile Phone
Service), are based on the company’s own chipset designs, and target users seeking value and style. The phones support
pager, voice mail and caller ID services in CDMA networks and feature the Nokia Navi Key, which lets users access all
the phone’s powerful functions using one button. The 5100 series comes with XPress-on color covers, which are made
in a variety of colors and can be snapped on and off without tools. Nokia expects to begin shipping the 5100 series
during the second quarter.
