Further Success for Siemens in the 3G Sector

30th April , 2004

Europe : Thai mobile operator AIS places an order for EDGE technology and expansion of its GPRS network worth 30 million US dollars

Thailand's largest mobile communication provider Advanced Info Service PCL (AIS) has chosen Siemens Information and Communication Mobile (Siemens mobile) to supply EDGE technology (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution). This technology will enable AIS to offer its customers an initial range of third generation mobile communication multimedia services. Siemens mobile has now received no fewer than ten orders for EDGE technology from mobile communication providers. The order is part of the nationwide expansion of the AIS GSM/GPRS network and has a total value of around 30 million US dollars.

Under the terms of the order, Siemens mobile will first equip the AIS mobile communication network in the cities of Chonburi, Pattaya, Nakornratchasrima and Khon Kaen with EDGE technology. This will allow AIS to provide an initial range of Internet Protocol (IP)-based 3G multimedia services such as video streaming. Siemens mobile will then proceed to expand the GSM/GPRS network operated by AIS across the whole of the country. This expansion will raise AIS GPRS network capacity from the current figure of 600,000 subscribers to approximately two million subscribers. Delivery and installation work is already under way and should be completed by the end of July this year. Siemens mobile has already equipped the AIS network in Eastern and Northeastern Thailand with GPRS technology.

"The promise of a rapid rollout for EDGE was a major factor in our decision to select Siemens as our supplier for this technology as well. Now we will be able to offer our customers an initial range of 3G services during the course of this year," explained AIS President Yingluck Shinawatra.

"This second success in Asia, which is our tenth order worldwide, further consolidates our position as one of the world's leading EDGE suppliers," affirmed Karl-Christoph Caselitz, President of Networks at Siemens mobile. "We are also proud to supply AIS with both GPRS and EDGE technology and to continue our long-standing relationship with the market leader in Thailand, now also into the third generation of mobile communication."

More than 13 million customers and a market share of 60 percent make AIS the leading mobile communication provider in Thailand. Siemens mobile has been supplying AIS since 1995 with GSM network infrastructure, including switching systems, base stations, intelligent network services and applications.

Background information on EDGE
EDGE stands for "Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution" and is a development of the 2G standard GSM/GPRS. It provides a jump in performance with respect to data throughput rates using a new and more advanced modulation process. Combined with new coding processes (as with GPRS), this enables data rates of up to 472 kilobits per second. GSM operators can upgrade their existing GSM networks to EDGE and thereby offer multimedia data services at high speed. EDGE is an attractive proposition for operators having a UMTS license in Asia as well as Europe, as it provides them with a quick way to offer initial high-performance data services and thereby build acceptance for the subsequent introduction of other broadband services.

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