PARIS—Malaysia’s Telekom Cellular contracted Alcatel to expand the capacity of the operator’s existing GSM 1800 MHz network and prepare it for General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) service by 2002. The value of the contract, which will support up to 2.5 million subscribers from the current capacity of 1.5 million, is US$85 million.
The expansion will allow Telekom Cellular to offer enhanced mobile data services, such as broadband Internet and mobile commerce, at speeds reaching 115 kilobits per second. The network will be GPRS ready initially in major cities, such as Kuala Lumpur, Penang and Johor Bahur, by the first quarter of 2002 and then nationwide by the end of 2002.
Motorola also won a three-year, US$44 million contract with Telekom Malaysia for GSM 1800 MHz infrastructure.
