Nokia Siemens, Ericsson launch Elisa’s first commercial WCDMA at 900 MHz

The Finnish communications service company Elisa has launched the world’s first commercial WCDMA 900 MHz network. Elisa’s new network is based on the WCDMA Frequency Refarming Solution from Nokia Siemens Networks, while Ericsson’s WCDMA/HSPA portfolio for the 900MHz band offers Elisa a cost-efficient way to further expand the coverage of its WCDMA/HSPA network in sparsely inhabited areas of Finland.

With 900 MHz spectrum, the increase in WCDMA network coverage will be achieved in a cost and energy-efficient way using a reduced number of sites.

Nokia Siemens Networks’ solution enables Elisa to expand 3G services to new areas effectively while maximally utilizing existing GSM spectrum and network assets. It also improves indoor coverage for 3G, enabling better data rates for high quality 3G services and thus enhancing the end-user experience.

A video call was demonstrated in new live network with Nokia’s new mobile device for WCDMA 900 MHz, the 6121 classic.

“Elisa has been the leader in driving the mobile broadband market in Finland. We are now running WCDMA and GSM efficiently in our 900 MHz frequency allocation, enabling us to extend our 3G services cost-effectively from cities to the less populated areas of Finland”, said Veli-Matti Mattila, President and CEO, Elisa Corporation.

Elisa Corporation is the broadband market leader in Finland. It has over 1.3 mln fixed line subscriptions, of which broadband subscriptions comprise over 518,000, as well as over 2.3 mln mobile phone subscribers through its international partners Vodafone and Telenor.

Ericsson’s WCDMA/HSPA solution for the 900MHz band provides more coverage because of the improved radio wave propagation at lower frequencies, making it easier to provide low-cost mobile broadband services in rural areas as well as improved indoor coverage in urban areas. Ericsson’s solution is built on its existing portfolio of radio base stations, which provides commercial mobile broadband services with up to 14.4Mbps download speeds in more than 70 commercial networks.

Ericsson’s WCDMA/HSPA technology is now commercially deployed in the 850, 900, 1700, 1800, 1900 and 2100MHz frequency bands and, as announced previously, deployment in the 2.6GHz frequency band will start shortly.