NOKIA PRESS RELEASE November 1, 2005
Nokia achieves convergence milestone, completes UMA voice and data calls
Espoo, Finland – As a significant milestone in its fixed-mobile convergence strategy, Nokia has completed both voice and data calls with Unlicensed Mobile Access (UMA) technology in a Nokia Solutions Experience Center in the United States.
UMA, a 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Program) standard, is an access technology that allows seamless handover of mobile voice and data from a cellular network to a wireless local area network (WLAN/WiFi). The UMA standard defines how mobile operators can turn home, office and public WLANs into seamless extensions of their cellular networks. With UMA, operators can deliver voice and data services to subscribers over the WiFi access networks, dramatically increasing mobile service usage while decreasing costs of network deployment.
The voice calls were conducted from a live cellular network to WLAN and from WLAN to cellular. In addition, a data call was conducted from cellular to WLAN. Both voice and data calls were completed using a Nokia test phone.
"This milestone is an excellent example of Nokia’s unique ability to offer service providers with true end-to-end solutions, from our industry-leading Release 4 core architecture to our devices equipped with both cellular and WLAN connectivity," said Mark Louison, senior vice president, Networks, North America, Nokia. "UMA is poised to open up a number of new opportunities and choices for operators and their end-users. We’re one step closer to simplifying the end-user mobile experience to access voice, personal information, and multimedia services on one device irrespective of their location, whether at work, at home, or on the go."
Nokia’s UMA network solution is part of its end-to-end Fixed-Mobile Convergence solution that offers fixed, mobile and hybrid operators a smooth evolution from today’s networks to the next-generation networks of tomorrow.
About Nokia
Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations. www.nokia.com.