Generation UMTS

18th November, 2003

Europe : Pre-commercial operation will be started in TeliaSonera Finland's UMTS network at the beginning of December. The network will first be used by selected business customers who develop mobile services of their own.

TeliaSonera Finland's UMTS network and its interoperability with the current GSM network have so far been piloted by people in TeliaSonera Finland's or equipment manufacturers' employ. At the beginning of December, TeliaSonera Finland will start pre-commercial operation in the UMTS network together with the companies that need the network for their own service development. The users will give feedback on the operation of the network and thereby help TeliaSonera Finland to improve the quality of service. At first, there will be a few hundred users. The pre-commercial operation will be expanded gradually. .

The network is opened for all users on a commercial basis, when the feedback from the first users and the service development experiences match the user experience and quality that Sonera's customers are accustomed to. TeliaSonera Finland's UMTS network was opened in line with the licence conditions in January 2002, and at the moment it is in operation in the Greater Helsinki Area, in Turku, Tampere and Oulu and about ten other towns around Finland.

Says Jan Lindgren, Vice President, TeliaSonera Customer Business Team, Nokia Networks: "We're delighted to see that the long-term co-operation between TeliaSonera Finland and Nokia in the commercialization of the new technology is now bearing fruit. The UMTS network we've delivered to TeliaSonera Finland is now mature enough to enable corporate users to see added value in the services it enables. As part of the Nokia total offering, we will bring Nokia 6650 and Nokia 7600 terminals to Finnish markets in December. TeliaSonera Finland is a frontrunner in providing new, innovative and easy-to-use services to its customers. As a systems supplier, our role is to make sure the successful implementation of these services also in UMTS environment."

TeliaSonera Finland has a goal according to which the services that are used via networks should be easy to use whatever the underlying technology. At first, the terminal devices to be brought out on the market will support either GPRS/EDGE or GPRS/UMTS. TeliaSonera Finland will offer EDGE even in its future UMTS areas, so that the customers can use Sonera's services flexibly even in future, irrespective of the terminal devices they have.