Nokia will supply its MSC Server (MSS) mobile softswitch to SFR to enhance the French operator’s network coverage and capacity. The upgrade to the softswitch will migrate SFR’s current circuit switched core network with a solution that enables fixed mobile convergence and the growth of 3G traffic.

The Nokia (News - Alert) MSC Server System includes the Nokia Multimedia Gateway (News - Alert). It enables SFR to manage the demands of its growing traffic and also reduce its operational expenditures. The solution has already been deployed to more than 100 mobile operators worldwide, and has accounted for more than 75 percent of Nokia switching deliveries since the middle of 2005.

Nokia will manage all activities related to network roll-out including adaptation works onsite, integration, re-hosting the radio equipment and operating the network. The Nokia NetAct network and service management solution will also be included as part of the package.

“Nokia’s impressive track record and the proof of its ability to deliver extended services, as well as the long-standing, successful relationship between SFR and Nokia made it easy for us to choose Nokia for this ambitious network modernization project,” said Paul Corbel, chief technical officer, SFR. “The change of our existing MSCs to Nokia’s integrated 2G/3G MSC Server mobile softswitch will enable SFR to now offer a whole suite of innovative services to our customers in the most cost efficient manner and enable convergence.”

“We are very happy to be continuing our long-term collaboration with SFR setting the stage for even stronger cooperation in the future,” said Roberto Loiola, vice president, Networks, Nokia. “And we’re doubly pleased to be providing SFR the industry’s leading mobile softswitch, bringing significant cost savings and a clear evolution next generation networks.”

IP Multimedia Subsystems, a way to bridge the circuit-switched technology of yesteryear to the packet-switched realm of tomorrow, represents the lifeblood for service providers today. And the best way to understand all of the implications of this next-generation enabling technology is to make the IMS Expo a must-attend event, collocated at INTERNET TELEPHONY Conference & Expo, WEST, which runs October 10-13, 2006, in San Diego.

-------

Laura Stotler writes about IP Communications and related topics for TMCnet. She has covered VoIP and related technologies for seven years, contributing to Internet Telephony magazine and TMCnet, and as a freelance writer. To see more articles, please visit: Laura Stotler’s columnist page.

---

---

Subscribe FREE to all of TMC's monthly magazines. Click here now.

---