Nokia joins 3 to mark the progress of 3G in the UK

June 24, 2004

At a media briefing in London, Nokia and 3 UK, the UK's first and only video mobile operator, underscored the maturity and reliability of 3's WCDMA 3G network. Speaking at the event, executives from 3 UK and Nokia detailed how 3G technology is now as robust as time-tested GSM/2G networks, but much faster and more efficient.

"Today we have the most technically advanced high-capacity network in the UK, thanks in part to Nokia," says David Cooper, Chief Technical Officer, 3 UK. "WCDMA 3G technology is now every bit as robust as GSM, it has reached levels of reliability and capacity much faster than GSM did in the early 1990s - and it is a more complex technology. This accelerated progress is allowing us to offer our customers a range of exciting video and mobile multimedia services, like person-to-person video calling, and streamed video clips of news, music, comedy and sports highlights. Nokia is one of our key partners in this service roll-out, helping us maintain our position as the leading video mobile network in the UK." He went on to add, "With over 78% population coverage for our video mobile services, we have rapidly closed the gap on our competitor networks with a superior technology. The future really is 3G!"

Nokia has supplied 3 UK's entire core network and the northern part of its radio network. Nokia's core network solution has been key in ensuring advanced service functionality for 3's customers from the very first day 3 launched its network in March 2003 - for instance, video telephony was supported from day one.

3 UK has undertaken the fastest network rollout in UK history and has succeeded on a scale and speed that is unprecedented. The focus of the last six months has been on network optimization and fine-tuning for superior performance and improved customer experience. As a result, 3 UK's radio network provides strong video service coverage to more than 78% of the UK population, complemented by voice & picture service coverage to 99% of the population through a roaming partnership. 3 UK now has 2,500 sites installed and integrated in the network with Nokia radio equipment.

"3 UK's network is now fully up to speed for delivering high volumes of data-intensive traffic," says Rajeev Suri, Vice President, Networks, Nokia. "3 UK's customers get all the benefits of GSM and GPRS as well as sophisticated data services at up to 384 kbits. But this is just the start of the journey. WCDMA is an evolution built on earlier networks and will lead to even higher data speeds in the future."