Europe : Slovenia is successfully on its way into the third mobile generation: As one of the first network operators in Eastern Europe, Si.mobil - Vodafone is starting its commercial EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) services, hence ringing in a new era in Eastern European mobile radio.

Inset is Bojan Dremelj, CEO of Si.mobil quoted below.

The network was delivered and set up by the mobile arm of Siemens AG- Siemens mobile for short.

By January 2004 the new high-speed network will be installed in Ljubljana and Maribor and their surrounding areas, commercial operation will begin by the end of March 2004. With this order, Siemens mobile has now already been awarded eight orders for equipping mobile operators in Europe, Asia, North- and South-America with EDGE technology.

Bojan Dremelj, CEO of Si.mobil said: "Together with Siemens mobile we made a plan how to step from 2G network to 3G network. We are one of the first EDGE adaptors in Europe and prepared for the start into a new mobile generation."

Christoph Caselitz, President of the Networks Division of Siemens mobile commented: "EDGE is an excellent solution for Slovenia on its way into the third mobile generation. We are allowing Si.mobil to offer mobile services at an early stage and create acceptance for further broadband services."

The contract between Siemens mobile and the Slovenian mobile operator Si.mobil - Vodafone for delivery of EDGE technology (base stations, switching technology, hardware and software components) was signed in July 2003. Just six months later the new network is going into operation. By January 2004, Slovenia's capital Ljubljana and the metropolitan area of Maribor will have access to the new technology. Full commercial operation is scheduled for the end of March 2004. The order for delivery of EDGE technology represents a significant success for Siemens mobile's business strategy for the economic region of Central and Eastern Europe. Siemens mobile has already been supplying mobile technology to the Slovenian network operator since 1997.

EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) is an extension of GSM and allows data transmission at four times the speed of GPRS. This means that mobile phone users can already transfer videos to their phones, listen to the radio online, and surf mobile on the internet or send e-mails. With regard to the third mobile generation, mobile operators can already offer high-quality data services at an early stage and hence create acceptance for the introduction of other applications onto the market. With this order, Siemens mobile has now already been awarded eight orders for equipping mobile operators in Europe, the USA and Asia with EDGE technology.

Background information on EDGE
EDGE stands for Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution and is an extension of GSM/GPRS. The performance boost for the data throughput rates is achieved through a new, high-quality modulation procedure, 8PSK. If these modulations are applied in addition in combination with new coding procedures (as with GPRS), data rates of up to 472 Kilobits per second can be achieved. GSM operators can upgrade their existing GSM networks to EDGE, while already offering high-speed data services. As in Europe, EDGE is also of interest in Asia to operators with a UMTS license, to put them in the position to be able to offer high-quality data services in an initial phase, hence increasing acceptance for also introducing other broadband services.