Press Release
Philipsburg, St. Maarten – April 14, 2011
TelCell gears up to offer faster mobile broadband on St Maarten
Caribbean operator selects Nokia Siemens Networks to roll out 3G/HSPA network
Subscribers of TelCell St Maarten, the mobile services arm of TelEm Group, will soon
enjoy a faster mobile broadband. The Netherlands Antilles-based operator is building
a 3G/HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) network and has selected Nokia Siemens
Networks to provide the complete network infrastructure including equipment and
related turnkey services for TelCell.
“Our local customers will be technologically closer in line with their US counterparts in terms
of higher end-user expectations and growing data demands,” said Eldert Louisa, chief
technology officer, TelEm Group. “Nokia Siemens Networks’ knowledge of the TelEm Group
network, coupled with its extensive portfolio of 3G/HSPA products and services, will enable
TelEm Group to stay ahead in the market and get ready for even faster data speeds with
HSPA+ and LTE* – the next generation mobile broadband technology.”
Nokia Siemens Networks will provide radio equipment including its compact and energyefficient Flexi Multiradio Base Stations. The company will provide the core network, including
Flexi NG (Network Gateway), which manages the mobility of smart devices and connectivity
to the applications used by TelCell subscribers. The other part of the core network is built
using the world’s number one mobile softswitch, Nokia Siemens Networks’ MSC Server, to
manage voice calls. Mobile softswitches and media gateways will save up to 70 percent of
the current operational costs for the operator.
The deal also includes Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN) and Serving GPRS Support
Node (SGSN). The company will provide NetAct for efficient management of the network.
Furthermore, Nokia Siemens Networks will ensure a rapid and smooth rollout of the mobile
broadband network by providing turnkey services including network implementation and care
for the operator.
“3G and particularly HSPA not only introduces a new mobile broadband experience for
subscribers, but also opens up new revenue streams for the operator,” said Michael Jakob,
head of business development for the Caribbean at Nokia Siemens Networks. “It also leads
to lower costs for delivering voice services and increased network capacity, providing
benefits to both end users and operators.”
TelCell is expected to launch its enhanced network by the end of April 2011.
About TelEm Group
TelEm Group and subsidiaries, along with associated company Smitcoms N.V. and
subsidiaries are government-owned entities providing incumbent telecommunication services
to the island of St. Maarten in the Dutch Caribbean. TelEm Group provides mobile and
internet services via the brand names TelCell and TelNet, while Smitcoms N.V. provides
international data and telephony services. The core of the international backbone is the
company’s fully owned SMPR-1 fiber optic cable which facilitates high quality reliable
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connectivity between various POP’s in Miami, Puerto Rico, St. Maarten and Curacao.
Through this network, TelEm Group offers dedicated capacity and IP service, and also
functions as a regional internet hub and digital highway.
About Nokia Siemens Networks
Nokia Siemens Networks is a leading global enabler of telecommunications services. With its
focus on innovation and sustainability, the company provides a complete portfolio of mobile,
fixed and converged network technology, as well as professional services including
consultancy and systems integration, deployment, maintenance and managed services. It is
one of the largest telecommunications hardware, software and professional services
companies in the world. Operating in 150 countries, its headquarters are in Espoo, Finland.
www.nokiasiemensnetworks.com
Talk about Nokia Siemens Networks’ news at http://blogs.nokiasiemensnetworks.com and find out if your country
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Media Enquiries
Nokia Siemens Networks
Carol DeMatteo
External Communications, North America
Phone: +1 214-728-6197
E-mail: carol.dematteo@nsn.com
Media Relations
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Notes to editors
* Nokia Siemens Networks is leading the commercialization of Long Term Evolution (LTE) in terms of
commercial references and live network performance according to a third party consultancy firm. LTE
is the next-generation mobile broadband technology and the evolutionary step from GSM,
WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+, TD-SCDMA, CDMA and WiMAX networks. It delivers the best broadband
user experience and smart device services in an efficient way due to increased data rates, reduced
latency and scalable flat all-IP network architecture. Nokia Siemens Networks has shipped its LTEready Flexi Multiradio Base Station to over 200 operators. In addition, it was the first to make an LTE
call using commercial hardware and standards-compliant software in 2009.
Nokia Siemens Networks is leading the commercialization of LTE in terms of commercial references
and live network performance verified by an independent company, GSA.com. The independent
company in its latest report on the global status of LTE operator commitments (dated January 12,
2011), states that 17 commercial LTE Networks have already been launched so far.
Among Nokia Siemens Network’s 31 commercial LTE deals are Agri-Valley Communications in USA
(radio, EPC); Deutsche Telekom in Germany (radio); Elisa Finland and Elisa Estonia (radio, EPC); LG
U+ in South Korea (radio); LightSquared (national LTE network incl. 40,000 base stations) in USA
(radio, EPC); Mobily (Etisalat) in Saudi Arabia (radio, EPC); Mosaic Telecom in USA (radio, EPC);
NTT DOCOMO in Japan (radio, EPC); SK Telecom in South Korea (radio); Tele2 in Sweden (EPC);
Telecom Italia (radio); Telefónica O2 in Germany (radio); Telenor Denmark (radio);Telia in Sweden,
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TeliaSonera in Denmark and Finland and EMT (TeliaSonera) in Estonia (radio); Verizon Wireless in
USA (IMS for LTE) and Zain Bahrain (radio, EPC).
We are conducting LTE trials with 25+ customers around the world including Aircel in India, China
Mobile in China, Chunghwa in Taiwan, KPN in the Netherlands, M1 in Singapore, MegaFon in Russia,
Optus in Australia, SFR in France, Telefónica O2 in the Czech Republic and Spain, Telstra in
Australia, TMN in Portugal, Vodacom in South Africa and Vodafone in Italy.
An LTE performance drive test by Signals Research Group on a Swedish commercial live LTE
network confirmed that the overall results achieved in the Gothenburg network (supplied by Nokia
Siemens Networks) were better than those achieved in the Stockholm network (supplied by another
vendor). For more information about the performance of Nokia Siemens Networks’ LTE offering,
please refer to an independent report from Signals Research called ’Signals Ahead LTE Drive Test
Revisited - Part 1’, which is available here or on the Nokia Siemens Networks internet page.
Nokia Siemens Networks’ Single RAN including the Flexi Multiradio Base Station provides a futureproof, easy and cost-efficient path to LTE in both FDD and TDD spectrum bands via a simple software
upgrade. Besides the Single RAN that supports GSM, 3G, FDD-LTE and TD-LTE, the company’s LTE
telecom infrastructure offering also features the Evolved Packet Core, including Flexi NS (Network
Server) and Flexi NG (Network Gateway), transport solutions, network management system, Self
Organizing Networks (SON), the award-winning Voice over LTE (VoLTE), provisioning and charging
solutions and a range of professional services to plan, install, maintain and operate networks. For
more information, please click here.
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