–Swedish telecom operator TeliaSonera said it has become the first carrier in Europe to begin offering LTE roaming to Danish customers visiting Sweden. The carrier, which was the first operator to launch LTE services in 2009, said the move is the first step towards expanding global LTE roaming into all of its markets.
TeliaSonera currently provides mobile services across Azerbaijan, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Georgia, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Nepal, Norway, Russia, Spain, Sweden, Tajikistan, Turkey and Uzbekistan.
–SK Telecom also signed a deal to work on testing Nokia Siemens Networks’ recently unveiled Radio Applications Cloud Server that enables its Liquid Application. NSN explained that the Liquid Application is designed to allow carriers to fine tune base stations into a “local hub” that can deliver content closer to the end user. SK Telecom is set to be the first operator to test the offering in an LTE environment.
–Telefonica’s O2 brand in the United Kingdom signed a deal with infrastructure giant Ericsson to provide the carrier with an evolved packet core for its LTE network. The deal also calls for Ericsson to “transform 50%” of O2’s network with the installation of its RBS 6000 multi-standard radio base stations supporting the carrier’s 2G, 3G and LTE plans.
Telefonica UK recently bid $837 million for 20 megahertz of spectrum in the 800 MHz band that it plans to use to launch LTE services. Those licenses did come with a coverage caveat that the carrier must provide “mobile broadband service for indoor reception to at least 98% of the U.K. population (expected to cover at least 99% when outdoors) and at least 95% of the population of each of the U.K. nations – England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales – by the end of 2017 at the latest.”
–China Mobile and Alcatel-Lucent unveiled a TD-LTE version of Alcatel-Lucent’s LigthRadio solution designed to help the carrier expedite coverage and capacity of its network. China Mobile noted that the solution would be deployed across its network in parts of Shanghai, Nanjing and Qingdao. The product builds off of an agreement signed last year to conduct joint development and test activities on a series of LightRadio TD-LTE projects to speed the deployment of LTE in China.
China Mobile signed a TD-LTE deal with Alcatel-Lucent late last year to deploy the lion’s share of its TD-LTE network.
–Australian operator Telstra announced an extension of a contract with Ericsson to provide LTE equipment to the carrier. The contract calls for Ericsson to provide equipment expanding Telstra’s LTE network, as well as plans to work on trialing LTE-Advanced carrier aggregation, LTE heterogeneous and LTE Broadcast technology.
Telstra also said it has struck a deal with Ericsson to supply optical network equipment for its “long-haul and metro networks across Australia,” and to increase capacity of its optical transport network using Ericsson’s 100Gbps technology.
–South Korea’s SK Telecom said it has signed a memorandum of understanding with Ericsson to work on the development of LTE-Advanced technologies. The deal calls for the operators to work on small cell technologies, which are expected to be a core component of LTE-Advanced deployments. SK cited figures from Informa Telecoms & Media, predicting small cell deployments will increase from 6.5 million at the end of 2012 to more than 91.9 million by the end of 2016.
–German operator E-Plus signed a deal with Nokia Siemens Networks to expand capacity of its current HSPA+ network operating in the 2.1 GHz band and “modernize” the carrier’s legacy GSM network. NSN said the deal will include the use of its Flexi Multiradio 10 base stations, Liquid Radio GSM software platform and expand the capabilities of its NetAct network management system.
–Swiss mobile carrier Orange signed a five-year deal with Nokia Siemens Networks to expand its current radio access network, and supply and build its LTE network. The agreement includes NSN’s Liquid Radio single radio access network solution, Flexi Multiradio base stations, evolved packet core and NetAct management system.
NSN noted the deal is a turnkey delivery agreement covering all build activities, including as site acquisition, build permit procedures, upgrades and hardware maintenance for Orange’s mobile network. Orange said it plans to launch commercial LTE services across 10 markets on June 1.
–Indian operator Bharti Airtel said it has selected Nokia Siemens Networks to deploy its circuit switched fallback voice solution in the operator’s live TD-LTE network in the city of Pune. The solution is designed to allow voice calls to be transferred to the carrier’s GSM-based network while maintaining connectivity to its TD-LTE network for data services.
–Dutch-based operator KPN signed a five-year managed services deal with Alcatel-Lucent handing over operational control of its fixed network in The Netherlands. Alcatel-Lucent noted the deal will also see the company migrate existing voice and transport networks to its latest technology.
–Regional Telecom, based in northern Iraq, said it has signed an agreement with Alcatel-Lucent to provide equipment and technology for an LTE network. The equipment will include base stations, IP mobile backhaul for LTE and existing CDMA-based 3G traffic, evolved packet core and elements of its platform.
–Etisalat signed an agreement with Alcatel-Lucent to extend the carrier’s LTE footprint, including the use of Alcatel-Lucent’s LightRadio solution. The two companies also signed a joint agreement for Alcatel-Lucent to work with Etisalat in Sri Lanka in preparation for the rollout of LTE services.
–Japanese operator KDDI said it has signed a deal with Ericsson to supply an IP multimedia subsystem platform for the carrier, scheduled to begin deployment in the second half of this year. KDDI noted that the deployment will allow it to move forward with plans to “launch additional services such as rich communications suite, HD voice over LTE and video calling over LTE.”
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