Nokia To Deliver GSM 1800 Network Expansion To China Unicom in Zhejiang

Business Wire, July 16, 2001

Business and Technology Editors

HELSINKI, Finland--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 16, 2001

Nokia has signed an agreement with China Unicom Zhejiang Branch for the expansion of its GSM 1800 network in southeastern China.

Deliveries have already begun on a full range of network infrastructure products, including mobile switching centres and Nokia high capacity base stations. The expansion will be completed in September this year.

Nokia will also provide the Nokia UltraSite base station solution, which answers the increasing demand for higher voice and data traffic in today's mobile networks and evolution to the Mobile Internet era. An industry-leading product, Nokia UltraSite can support GSM, High Speed Data, GPRS, EDGE and WCDMA for 3G technologies.

Furthermore, a full package of professional services is provided to help maximize operating efficiency and add value to its business case. These services include project management, assistance in network planning, network implementation, training and network operations support.

This is the seventh network expansion of China Unicom Zhejiang Branch, which currently has more than 2.5 million subscribers. The expansion will bring the operator's capacity to approximately five million subscribers and will cover the main cities of Hang Zhou, Wen Zhou, Tai Zhou, ShaoXing and Jin Hua in Zhejiang province.

"Nokia's leading technology enables Zhejiang to provide comprehensive and high quality network coverage and offer new revenue-generating services," said Antti Ware, Vice President, System Business, Nokia (China) Investment Co., LTD.

"This agreement further strengthens Nokia's relationship with China Unicom and will prepare it to meet future market demand for subscriber growth and high-capacity mobile services in Zhejiang."

Nokia is committed to a long-term development and preferred partnership in China. With innovative technology, Nokia has continuously strengthened its market position as a leading supplier of mobile and broadband network systems and mobile phones in China. China is Nokia's second largest market in the world. Nokia's investment in China has surpassed USD 1.7 billion. Nokia has established over 20 representative offices, seven joint ventures, one wholly owned manufacturing plant and one R&D center, with over 5,500 employees in China.

Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges.