Nokia Avenue Launched At CeBit - Next Generation Internet Access Concentrator - Product Announcement

Cambridge Telcom Report, Feb 28, 2000

Wednesday at CeBit 2000 in Hannover, Germany, Nokia has launched the Nokia Avenue, a high capacity IP access concentrator. This unique product decreases costs and generates new revenue for Internet Service Providers (ISP's) as well as mobile operators offering Internet access to their subscribers.

Nokia Avenue introduces integrated Signalling System 7 (SS7) functionality to dial-up IP access, for the first time in a single product. This generates revenue as a share of the call connection fee goes to the ISP. Nokia's customers will also be able to save money with Nokia Avenue as it is connected into the network via the SS7 system.

This product is the most powerful on the market today, capable of supporting 50,000 subscribers. It will be available for commercial deliveries in September this year.

"Nokia Avenue bridges the IP network and and the Public Switched Telephone Network. Built for the fast-paced, quick-payback IP business, Nokia Avenue enables expanded billing possibilities for those offering IP-based services, giving independency and manageability to the billing system, a critical element of today's networks," says Aarne Sipila, Vice President, Fixed Switching, Nokia Networks. "This brings possibilities to provide new charging schemes for applications such as pre-paid WAP and World Wide Web services."

With Nokia Avenue, mobile operators will be ready for increasing WAP and mobile data traffic. Nokia Avenue can be integrated with other vendors' access servers; therefore protecting investments. It also enables ISPs to offer dynamic new service packages as well as offering a gateway to mobile data and mobile Internet services, such as those based on WAP. Nokia Avenue is a highly scalable product meaning that operators or service providers can offer their customers guaranteed carrier-class services. This also gives the possibility to have "faster to Net" access due to improved manageability.

Nokia is paving the way to the mobile information society with its innovative products and solutions. Nokia is the leading mobile phone supplier and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks, related services as well as multimedia terminals. In 1999, net sales totaled EUR 19.8 billion (USD 19.9 billion). Headquartered in Finland, Nokia is listed on the New York (NOK), Helsinki, Stockholm, London, Frankfurt and Paris stock exchanges and employs more than 55 000 people. Notes to Editors:

An IP access concentrator is a network element which enables ISP's to provide dial-up Internet access via the public switched telephone network or WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) access across a mobile network.

SS7 (Common Channel Signalling System No. 7) is a network-to-network signalling protocol, especially designed for optimised operation in telecom networks. SS7 defines the protocol and procedures between network elements in the Public Switched Telephone Network, ISDN networks, GSM networks and operation and maintenance networks. The SS7 network provides capabilities to prevent congestion in high traffic by load sharing between different signalling links. Congestion control provides fast indication of and recovery after failures, such as link breaks and processor overload in PSTN network elements.