Even though operators around the globe are installing 3G networks and their evolutionary path, there is going to be a lot of 2G used for many years. Nokia Siemens Networks is taking steps to enhance those 2G technologies with a new version of its EDGE product.
NSN's new "Dual Carrier EDGE" software is part of the vendor's EDGE Evolution product it says will deliver data rates up to 592 kbps on existing EDGE networks. That kind of capability means an operator could have UMTS/HSPA in metro areas and EDGE in rural parts of its footprint. NSN says 592 kbps will support mobile video.
The product is going to be available in Q3 as a software upgrade. NSN also plans another boost for EDGE Evolution that will provide data rates up to 1.2 Mbps down and 473 kbps up, which effectively quadruples the rates for today's EDGE networks.
"By 2015, we expect to live in a broadband IP world with 5 billion people 'always on' and therefore Nokia Siemens Networks is committed to protecting customer investments and continue to implement leading EDGE technology," says Ari Lehtoranta, head of the company's Radio Access Business Unit."