Optus has selected equipment from Nokia Siemens Networks to upgrade its 3G networks to the LTE (long term evolution) standard, following two successful trials in Sydney.
Nokia Siemens Networks released a statement today as Optus’ "sole packet core vendor in a multimillion dollar agreement".
Neither Optus or NSN has revealed the terms of the deal.
Optus said it involved the purchase of four switches for its mobile network core.
NSN will also provide professional services such as network planning, implementation and maintenance.
Optus has spent almost a year trialling Nokia Siemens Networks’ kit in suburban Sydney, in preparation for an LTE network rollout. Elsewhere in the Asia Pacific, Optus parent SingTel has been trialling LTE kit manufactured by Alcatel-Lucent, Ericsson, Huawei, NEC and ZTE.
NSN kit has also been tested by Telstra engineers in a vendor shoot-out with Ericsson and Huawei, which Ericsson eventually won in a deal reported to be worth up to $473 million.
In a statement today, NSN said the 3GPP’s Evolved Packet Core standard allows mobile telecommunications providers to carry GPRS, WCDMA and LTE network traffic on the one network.
The deal included use of NSN’s Charge@once Mediate solution, which the vendor claims to be able to allow Optus to upgrade its networks without requiring an overhaul of its charging and billing systems.
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