February 19, 2010 - NEC Corporation (NEC) announced yesterday at the Mobile World Congress (Booth 8A125, Hall 8) that it is supporting Telefonica O2 in its trial of LTE (Long-Term Evolution) 4G next-generation mobile services in the UK.

O2 deployed NEC's flagship microwave backhaul solution, PASOLINK, to provide a high-capacity, resilient transmission link to one of O2's key LTE trial sites in the Slough area, Berkshire, UK. NEC's PASOLINK is used to carry high-definition video streaming, mobile gaming, high-speed file transfer and video conferencing.

"NEC provided us with the high performance and flexible access link to trial our next generation LTE mobile service," said Nigel Pudy, Head of Networks, Telefonica O2 UK Limited.

Building on its market leadership in microwave backhaul, NEC is continuing to invest in and develop its solutions for network operators. Also at MWC, NEC announced its "Intelligent Converged Platform" for mobile backhaul which comprises the evolution of NEC's mobile backhaul solutions and services to plan, build and operate next-generation mobile broadband for mobile operators.

"The massive demand for smartphones and data, along with plans for next-generation mobile network technologies such as LTE, has brought network quality and time to deployment right to the heart of a successful strategy for mobile operators," said Richard Hanscott, vice president, NEC Europe Ltd. "Our backhaul solution, PASOLINK, has led the industry in high-quality, network provision and we continue to lead the way with an insight and understanding of the evolving requirements and challenges faced by mobile operators."

Since the launch of PASOLINK in the early 1980s, NEC has actively promoted the system's research, development and sales. Following in step with the rapid growth of worldwide mobile markets, PASOLINK has enjoyed increasing sales as a communications system that links the base stations of mobile communications carriers, and has been shipped to customers throughout 136 countries. The shipments of PASOLINK have surpassed more than 1 million total units. Most recently, shipments to mobile telephone carriers in such markets as Asia and the Middle East, where rapid economic expansion has taken place, have contributed significantly to PASOLINK breaking through the 1 million total shipments mark.

It is widely anticipated that demand for PASOLINK's advanced technologies will continue as the need for base station access grows in response to the rapid global growth of mobile phone subscribers, the spread of mobile Internet services and the creation of new broadband markets. Accordingly, NEC will continue the proactive development and marketing of these versatile systems, as a business leader among ultra-compact microwave communications innovation.