Warsaw, Poland – December 22, 2011, Polkomtel S.A., Poland’s leading mobile operator, now offers improved mobile broadband services with better indoor coverage and wider reach beyond the country’s big cities. Nokia Siemens Networks has modernized the operator’s GSM network and expanded its 3G/HSPA+ network to enable new services using the 900 MHz frequency band. Nokia Siemens Networks also upgraded Polkomtel’s packet core network to the latest ATCA* technology for faster roll-out of advanced data services.

As part of the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks also enabled radio access network sharing between Polkomtel and Aero2, another Polish telecom operator, which will save costs for both operators.

“It is very important for Polkomtel to extend mobile broadband access to all parts of the country and to offer services and applications that will benefit both people and businesses,” said Jaroslaw Bauc, member of the Polkomtel Board. “With Nokia Siemens Networks, we successfully launched new 3G/HSPA+ services by using a 900 MHz band refarming solution as a supplement to our existing 2.1 GHz services. This resulted in improved coverage and quality of our mobile broadband offering.”

In just four weeks, Nokia Siemens Networks deployed 500 Flexi Multiradio Base Stations, part of its LTE-ready Single RAN (radio access network) solution. It also enabled existing GSM sites to be reused without requiring any additional external combiners, filters or dedicated antennas, thereby saving costs while maintaining GSM quality and capacity. In addition, the contract includes the ATCA-based Flexi Network Server, part of the Nokia Siemens Networks Liquid Core architecture. It provides high transaction capacity to accommodate increased signaling load and ensures a seamless evolution to 4G.

Nokia Siemens Networks’ NetAct network management system will ensure optimal monitoring and management of the GSM and 3G/HSPA+ networks as well as the multi-operator core network (MOCN). Nokia Siemens Networks provided a range of services to Polkomtel such as network implementation, integration, and a full set of care services including hardware and software maintenance and competence development.

“By using spectrum in the 900 MHz band, operators can extend mobile broadband to rural areas and offer improved indoor coverage, where most data consumption takes place,” said Radomir Grucza, head of Nokia Siemens Networks in Poland. “In addition, using the 900 MHz band saves implementation and operation costs due to lower hardware requirements. Operators can thus offer high-quality experience to their customers without having to make significant hardware investments.”