Orange France Launches 3G HSDPA Trials

Europe : Orange France has launched a high-speed mobile network trial based on HSDPA technology from Nortel.

The trial is providing mobile broadband connectivity from 1.8 Mbps per second - four times faster than current networks - for 150 lead business customers in Lyon, France's second largest city.

Orange France expects to commercially launch its HSDPA enterprise network nationwide in the second half of 2006.

Through the HSDPA trial, Orange customers will benefit from more secure, high-speed mobile access for such broadband intense services as high-quality live TV, HD video on demand, MP3 streaming and HD video gaming.

"Orange is a market leader for large-scale deployment of HSDPA networks in Europe and Nortel has been playing a key role in helping Orange prove the commercial viability of HSDPA technology," said Christine Landrevot, president of Orange Global Accounts at Nortel. "Nortel has been working with Orange on their most ambitious wireless network programs over the past 15 years, including demonstration of the advantages of HSDPA at 3GSM World Congress in early 2005."

In addition to its presence in Orange France's GSM and EDGE networks, Nortel is also the exclusive provider of Orange France's UMTS network in the Côte d'Azur and central regions of France which include Cannes, Nice, Lyon, Marseille, Montpellier, Toulon, Grenoble and St. Etienne.

In January 2006, Nortel, Orange and Qualcomm successfully completed UMTS and HSDPA calls in the 900 MHz band, a solution that could complement Orange's existing 3G services to deliver wireless broadband to rural areas of France. Nortel and Orange also demonstrated this capability during the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona in February 2006.

Nortel's HSDPA solution can provide connectivity at speeds up to 3.6 Mbps per second. The company achieved the industry's first HSDPA mobile call in January 2005. Nortel and LGE completed the first live test calls using a commercial handset solution for HSDPA in March 2005. In June 2005, Nortel became the first wireless network supplier to complete the TL9000 registration standard for Quality Management System Requirements and Measurements across its HSDPA, UMTS and GSM wireless infrastructure solutions.

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