Nokia Flexi Base Station takes high-speed content delivery to new levels

By Jessica Kinsey

Nokia has introduced the multi-radio platform Nokia Flexi Base Station. This introduction of the Nokia Flexi Base Station is in anticipation of the Federal Communications Commission's (FCC) auction of licenses for the 1700/2100 MHz, and 700 MHz spectrum bands.

The Nokia Flexi Base Station enables deployment of 3G and/or broadband wireless networks, like WCDMA, HSPA, and WiMAX, and services in multiple spectrum bands with up to 70 percent lower base station site expenditures compared to using wide area base stations deployed in networks today.

In efforts to stay ahead of the market and prepare for the new spectrum bands and for fixed-mobile convergence, Nokia has designed its products and solutions to address these specific requirements. For instance, Nokia was first to introduce innovative solutions like the flat network architecture, Nokia Internet-High-Speed Packet Access (I-HSPA) that enables high-speed mobile access with wide area coverage for data intensive business and consumer applications, and VoIP. Additionally, the Nokia Flexi Base Station is the first product of its kind and will revolutionize the way 3G and broadband wireless wide area networks, like WCDMA, HSPA, and WiMAX, will be built from this moment forward.

The Nokia Flexi Base Station will be available for WCDMA and HSPA for the IMT-2000 frequencies 2100 MHz, 1700 MHz, 1800 MHz and 1700/2100 MHz in the second half of 2006. In the first half of 2007, further frequencies, including 850 MHz, 900 MHz and 1900 MHz will be available. The Nokia Flexi WCDMA Base Station will also be available for the 700 MHz band, expected to go on auction in the 2007-2009 timeframe. Other frequency variants for broadband wireless access technologies can be supported with the Nokia Flexi BTS according to market demand.

"Nokia recognizes the significant impact these spectrum licenses will have in North America and have optimized our equipment and services for planning and deploying wireless networks in these new bands," said Mark Slater, vice president, Networks, Nokia. "We've identified key areas any provider must address when considering time-to-market, investments, deployments, operations, and end-user services, and have designed our products and services to specifically serve the North American market."