Nokia Expands Thai GSM

ESPOO, Finland -- Nokia and Advanced Info Service Plc (AIS), one of Thailand's leading mobile phone service operators, have signed a deal worth USD 19 million to expand AIS' GSM network in the Northern, Central and Southern regions of Thailand. The expansion will improve network coverage and capacity and ensure that AIS can maintain a top-quality GSM network in the fiercely competitive Thailand market.

Under the agreement, Nokia is supplying a GSM radio network, including base stations and base station controllers; a core network, including the Nokia Mobile Switching Centre (MSC), the Nokia Intelligent Content Delivery (ICD), the Nokia Online Service Controller (OSC), and the Nokia Terminal Management Server (NTMS). The GSM expansion covers Northern, Central and Southern Thailand. The Nokia ICD and NTMS will be supplied nationwide.

Nokia will provide services including project management, telecom implementation and planning for the GSM expansion. Nokia's systems integration will play an important role in integrating the Nokia ICD and NTMS solutions to AIS' charging system. The system continues to be supported by the unique multitechnology Nokia NetAct(TM) network and service management system.

"The end-to-end GSM solutions from Nokia will enable us to maintain high quality network coverage and services despite the heavy usage and growth in the network," says Ms. Arpattra Sringkarrinkul, Executive Vice President, Solutions, AIS. "We value our customers and are continuously working towards a better customer experience. Nokia's solutions not only improve the quality of our voice service, but also help us make our non-voice services more flexible and user-friendly."

Nokia Corp. (NYSE: NOK)