Europolitan speeds up data transmission in the GSM network

First step taken towards higher transmission speeds Europolitan speeds up data transmission in the GSM network Europolitan is one of the first mobile operators in the world to speed up mobile data transmission to a speed of 14.4 kbits/s (kilobits per second). The transmissions were conducted by Europolitan and Nokia. The higher speed is due to be launched to Europolitan's customers during the summer. Increased transmission speed is a prerequisite for new advanced wireless services in the network and Europolitan expects to achieve even higher speeds during the year. Europolitan is one of the world's first mobile operators to have achieved a mobile data transmission speed of 14.4 kbits/s, illustrating the company's determination to remain at the forefront of technology. Up until now, mobile networks have used data transfer speeds of 9.6 kbits/s, making it impossible to make full use of certain services. "We will gradually be increasing the network's speed, and we will be able to offer our customers speeds of 43.2 kbits/s some time this year," says Mikael Kluge, Marketing Director at Europolitan. "This means that data transmission will be more than four times as fast as they are now." The main beneficiaries of these higher data speeds will be customers using Europolitan's advanced wireless services, such as the LAN Direkt data service which provides digital access to the company's local data networks, and the Internet service europolitan@internet. "The higher transmission speeds will further increase the use of mobile data," says Mikael Kluge. "Higher transmission speeds are a prerequisite for the smooth functioning of services such as Internet connections and video- and multimedia transfers via mobile phones." The so-called GPRS standard is expected in a year or so, followed by UMTS, the third generation of mobile telephony. However, Europolitan will shortly be introducing enhanced transmission speeds with the help of a development of the present generation of technology. Only customers with mobile phones supporting the new technology will be able to use the new high transmission speeds. Several current mobile phone models can cope with speeds of 14.4 kbits/s, and phones, which can cope with 43.2 kbits/s are expected to be available in the second half of 1999. Europolitan's customers will have access to speeds of 14.4 kbits/s during the summer. The higher speeds are achieved by combining three technologies. A new type of channel coding makes it possible to use the time slot that the information is sent in more efficiently and reach a speed of 14.4 kbits/s. A new compression algorithm further increases this speed. And finally a new standard, known as HSCSD (High Speed Circuit Switched Data) provides data information with more time slot and speeds up transmission even more. Europolitan AB is a Swedish GSM operator whose priorities are service and quality. The company's head office is in Karlskrona. Europolitan is a leader in the field of technically advanced services for GSM900/1800. The Europolitan Group, which also includes Europolitan AB's sister company Europolitan Stores AB and the Stock Market listed Parent Company Europolitan Holdings AB, employs around 800 people. For more information please contact: Mikael Kluge, Marketing Director, Europolitan AB tel.: +46 708 33 12 05, e-mail: mikael.kluge@europolitan.se Nils Carlsson, Product Development Manager, Europolitan AB tel.: +46 708 33 14 47, e-mail: nils.carlsson@europolitan.se ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/04/13/19990413BIT00220/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/04/13/19990413BIT00220/bit0002.pdf