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SFR selects NSN for LTE

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V&D Bureau
New Update

SFR has selected Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as radio supplier to implement its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) network and upgrade its existing GSM and 3G networks in major French cities.

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Nokia Siemens Networks' Liquid Radio technology will help SFR meet its growing capacity requirements and provide subscribers with an excellent 4G customer experience. As part of the agreement, Nokia Siemens Networks is supporting SFR with the launch of its 4G service with networks in Paris and Paris La Défense European business district. Today, 4G was launched commercially in Paris La Défense.

"As a long-term, trusted, technology partner of SFR, we are very excited to bring our latest mobile broadband innovations to La Défense", said Benoit Duchêne, head of SFR customer business team at Nokia Siemens Networks.

With our Liquid Radio solution, SFR is able to deliver best-in-class mobile internet performance and accelerate the take-up of 4G added Duchene.

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Under the contract, Nokia Siemens Networks will provide its high-capacity Liquid Radio solution built on the Single Radio Access Network (RAN) platform with the energy-efficient Flexi Multiradio 10 Base Station, enabling data transfer speeds of up to 100 Mbps. To make the most of Liquid Radio, the company is also implementing the comprehensive mobile networks automation solution, Self-Organizing Networks (SON) RAN.

The contract also includes Nokia Siemens Networks' NetAct network management system and a suite of associated software tools for consolidated configuration, monitoring, and network optimization across technologies.

5. RIM to launch Blackberry 10 today (devices/smartphone)

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RIM will formally unveil Blackberry 10 today in New York at 10 AM EST (Eastern Standard Time) or 8:30 PM IST (Indian Standard Time).

For RIM, Blackberry 10 brings lot of hope as its stocks has tripled over the last four months. The company is betting a lot on Blackberry 10 as this will help RIM to be placed in the same league of samsung and Apple, the leaders in smartphone category with market share of 31.5 percent respectively (according to Juniper Research).

According to Juniper Research "RIM is expected to account for almost 6.7 million smartphone shipments for Q4 and over 31 million for the year. With the release and launch of BlackBerry 10 and a new line of smartphones just a few days away, the Canadian company will struggle to gain back a significant market share in 2013."

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Speaking on Blackberry 10, Malik Saadi, principal Analyst at Informa Telecoms & Media said "The BlackBerry brand continues to lose its luster and RIM is now relying on its BB10 platform, which it has developed from scratch, to regain consumer confidence in its brand. The success, or otherwise, of the first device powered by the new platform will determine RIM's future."

"In developed markets, BlackBerry is no longer perceived as a premium brand and subscribers in these regions have deserted the platform in their masses due to the lack of attractive devices. In 2012, the company sold fewer than 14 million BlackBerry phones in Western Europe and North America combined. However, RIM could well win these users back if it can offer them a premium user experience in line with the quality of its services, notably its BBM messaging platform and its e-mail services. And this is exactly what RIM is trying to achieve with the introduction of the BB10 platform," commented Saadi.

Research In Motion has also announced that the new BlackBerry World storefront for BlackBerry 10 will offer one of the most robust music and video catalogs in mobile today. The new BlackBerry World will include an extensive catalog of songs as well as movies and TV shows, with most movies coming to the store the same day they are released on DVD, and next day availability of many current TV series. The competitive offering will feature content from all major studios, music labels and top local broadcast networks.

"RIM is committed to working with content providers to bring the best, most up-to-date content to our customers with BlackBerry 10, and to make it easy for them to get what they want," said Frank Boulben, chief marketing officer at Research In Motion.

The video download and rental section in BlackBerry World will initially be available in the US, UK and Canada and later will be available in other markets. The music section will initially be available in 18 countries: Canada, USA, UK, Argentina, Brazil, Colombia, Mexico, France, Germany, Italy, Netherlands, South Africa, Spain, Australia, India, Malaysia, New Zealand and Singapore.

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