Telenor Norway opens Europes most modern mobile network
This new mobile network secures its users higher speeds and greater capacity when surfing on PCs, tablets or mobile phones, said Telenor CEO Berit Svendsen, at a time when smartphones are accelerating data traffic.
Increasingly, people are using the mobile network to send pictures and videos, browse the news, read emails and share movies and information on Facebook. This doubles the data traffic each year, and Telenor estimates 15 times more data traffic by 2015.
Said 15-year-old Nereng: I blog and use my mobile phone everywhere, so for me it is important to have good coverage. Sharing video clips and checking Facebook is a must, and I demand high speed.
Said Svendsen: We have acknowledged the consequences of new user requirements. Last summer saw the implementation of, by far, the quickest and largest-scale replacement of the mobile network for exactly this reason.
Weve expanded the network to ensure that customers throughout the country can enjoy superb coverage, and the capacity required to make use of all the new services to come, even in the future.
Norway showcase
The total upgrade includes more than 9,000 base stations in 6,379 sites throughout Norway, including oil installations in the North Sea. The new network gives Telenor improved data traffic capacity, enabling higher speeds. The new equipment will be used to deploy the next generation mobile network (4G/LTE), starting in 2012.
Right now we can access all the information we want from ! a mobile phone, freeing us up to move out of the office and into the nature, up at the cabin or down on the beach, said Svendsen. There is nowhere in the world where communication services create a better experience than in Norway.
Behind Telenors major investments lies a clear ambition to make Norway into the showcase for the rest of the world in this regard.
Successful teamwork
Base stations are located on mountain tops, in confined lofts in apartment buildings, on oil installations in the North Sea to provide coverage wherever people are to be found. More than 1,000 of these sites could only be reached by helicopter to replace the equipment.
Norwegian weather and road conditions with snow storms, darkness and mountains and forests with no roads presented challenges in implementation.
We have replaced the entire infrastructure while still handling daily operations of the network, said Svendsen. The process has been a bit like changing the engine while driving the car.
The implementation was a team effort, with participants from Telenor Norway and more than 10 suppliers and contractors. Around 700 people of more than 20 different nationalities have worked together. I am extremely proud of the work that has been done, and not least, the results.
The new equipment reduces Telenors energy consumption by around 15 GWh a year, or the equivalent of power used in 800 homes.
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