Europe Finland : Elisa announced new 3G services that offer wireless broadband backup to wireline data connections, helping customers maintain connectivity should their network connection become compromised. The new services will also help business customers rapidly connect remote or temporary work locations to their corporate networks in a fraction of the time typically required to install a traditional wired connection.

Inset shows Cisco 3G Wireless WAN High-Speed WAN Interface Card.

Elisa's Redundant High Availability Services will benefit customers who require maximum availability of network resources at all times. By equipping the customer premises with an Elisa-managed router, a 3G card and a fixed-access card, based on the Cisco ISR, Elisa can help protect customers against faults caused on the fixed-access network such cable cuts or local access outages. This service is particularly suitable for customers in the retail business where the ability to process credit and debit card transactions is critical at all times.

Elisa is also offering a Business Network Subscription Service where 3G serves as the primary connection between the end customer site and Elisa's core Internet Protocol (IP) network. This service allows Elisa customers who have temporary or remote work sites to establish a connection in a matter of hours using 3G connectivity in the absence of a wired connection. Typical examples of such a deployment would be a branch office, construction sites or seasonal holiday resorts.

Both services are based on Cisco's 3G wireless high-speed WAN interface card (HWIC), which adds 3G functionality to Cisco's Integrated Services Router series of Customer Edge Routers. The Cisco Integrated Services Router with an Elisa-powered Cisco 3G Wireless HWIC will help customers ensure maximum availability of critical IT services and minimize the costs and time it takes to set up a communications network at temporary installations like sales kiosks or construction sites.

The Cisco 3G wireless HWIC can also take full advantage of Elisa's High Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) capable network, where downlink speeds of up to 3.6 megabits per second are possible. Elisa has been a worldwide early adopter of this technology, which now can effectively be used for corporate customers' benefit.

"Elisa is a carrier that owns both 3G and IP/MPLS core networks, and we are among the leading providers in both markets. Therefore we are especially happy that Cisco has products that help enable us to combine the strengths of these two infrastructures. Our managed services free the end customers from the complexity of network design," said Markku Lempinen, head of corporate network solutions for Elisa. "Finland has been an early adopter in both IP and 3G technologies, and we are looking forward to further develop new services which are based on the convergence of different technologies."

"The 3G services offered by Elisa offer a compelling alternative to the traditional methods used to establish a network connection to remote locations or deploy a wireline back-up system," said Richard Roberts, director of business development for Cisco. "3G offers faster speeds than dial-up/ISDN and can be deployed in a fraction of the time it normally takes to establish wireline connectivity to remote sites. Elisa's new services will help its customers cut the costs associated with their branch IT operations and help maintain availability of their IT systems should their wired connection become compromised."