As the first swedish mobile operator Europolitan together with Nokia today completed the first GPRS Call in its network in Karlskrona, Sweden. GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is a milestone in the development towards the third generation mobile systems and mobile multimedia services.
Magnus Forsbrand, Vice President, Engineering and Operations at Europolitan, completed the call today in Sweden, using Nokia GPRS infrastructure. It was possible during the data call to retrieve and download information from the Internet.
"It feels incredibly satisfying that we have been able to get the network up and running this early and complete a data call over GPRS. Now we can start the real implementation of services," said Magnus Forsbrand, Vice President, Engineering and Operations at Europolitan. "Europolitan have always been on the cutting edge in the use of new technology, and this shows that we are world leaders also in GPRS. Our goal is to continue to be first in introducing new and easy to use mobile services, to the benefit of our customers".
GPRS will bring a host of new services to Europolitan's customers. The greatest advantage for the customer lies in the possibility to have continuous connectivity to the Internet or the corporate intranet.
"Europolitan is one of the global leaders in proactively deploying innovative wireless applications. We see this achievement in the Europolitan network as an important step highlighting our progress in bringing this important technology from the R&D labs to the actual network deployment," says Seppo Rantakokko, Managing Director, Nokia Networks, Sweden "An early start in GPRS paves the way for success in 3rd Generation packet data networks, as it is an important cornerstone in moving toward mobile multimedia and 3G services."
Nokia's success in the competitive GPRS market is because it offers a complete, secure end-to-end solution.
Europolitan and Nokia started the construction of Europolitan's GPRS network in late 1999. The complete network will be continously updated throughout this year.
Europolitan AB is a Swedish GSM operator that prioritises service and quality. The company's head office is in Karlskrona, Sweden. Europolitan is a leader in the field of technically advanced services for GSM 900/1800.The Europolitan Group, which also includes the stock market listed parent company Europolitan Holdings AB and Europolitan AB's sister companies, Europolitan Stores AB, Ocom AB and Doberman AB, has around 1,000 employees. For more information, please visit www.europolitan.se
Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. Nokia is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, broadband and IP networks, related services as well as multimedia terminals. In 1999, net sales totaled EUR 19.8 billion (USD 19.9 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 56 000 people.
Further information:
Communications Department, Nokia Networks
Tel. (Int.) +358 9 5113 8193, Fax (Int.) +358 9 5113 8199
Email: nokia.networks@nokia.com, Web: www.nokia.com