VIENNA and ESPOO, Finland -- Hutchison 3G Austria’s subscribers can enjoy fast and reliable Internet browsing via mobile broadband thanks to a flat-network solution from Nokia Siemens Networks, designed to handle rapidly increasing data traffic.

The so-called direct tunnel functionality, which Nokia Siemens Networks has pioneered, is an innovative software upgrade that simplifies the packet core network and the data flow between the end-user and the Internet. By modernizing its packet core, Hutchison 3G Austria boosts its network performance to higher speeds and capacity to handle all its data traffic through a single node for the foreseeable future. Direct tunnel also offers a clear migration path to future mobile network technologies, like Long Term Evolution (LTE).

“To provide our subscribers with state-of-the-art online services, along with high-quality voice, we needed a solution that would help expand network capacity without major infrastructure expansion,” said Jan Trionow, CTO of Hutchison 3G Austria. “The flat network solution from Nokia Siemens Networks means fewer network elements, better performance, greater flexibility and lower operational costs.”

With direct tunnel functionality, Nokia Siemens Networks is introducing innovative flat core architecture into today's 3G networks, allowing data traffic to bypass the Serving Gateway Support Node (SGSN), which in traditional core setup is responsible for the signaling and user data at the same time. Thus the direct tunnel feature, by bypassing SGSN, reduces the load on its capacity and lowers transmission network costs. It allows operators to balance the use of network resources and prepare for LTE and the streamlined core networks of the future. In addition to the SGSN and the direct tunnel feature, Nokia Siemens Networks also is providing 3G Austria with the NetAct network management and service management solution for maximizing network performance as well as implementation services.

“This implementation confirms our leadership in wide scale global direct tunnel deployments,” said Dietmar Appeltauer, Head of Central East Europe at Nokia Siemens Networks. “The extensive testing by Hutchison 3G Austria and live experience further verified positive results from our earlier deployments.”

Nokia Networks