China's Ministry Of Railways Signs GSM-R Framework Agreement With Nortel

Published 22nd May 2006

Powering digital mobile signalling and communications spanning 20 provinces...

China's Ministry of Railways (MOR) and Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] have signed a framework agreement for Nortel to provide GSM Railway (GSM-R) switching centres to enable digital mobile signalling and operational communications along passenger lines spanning 20 of China's 31 provinces.

The Nortel GSM-R switching centres will cover nearly half of MOR's national railway footprint, serving both conventional railway lines as well as planned high-speed lines. Seven switching centres will be deployed at key locations nationwide, supplementing two switching centres previously deployed in 2005.

Secure and reliable digital mobile voice and data communications for train drivers, signalling personnel and other operational staff rank high on MOR's agenda for the evolution and modernisation of China's railway network. Nortel's global leadership in GSM-R and vast experience deploying GSM-R networks worldwide influenced MOR's decision to sign this agreement with Nortel.

"MOR's selection of Nortel switching centres puts us in a favourable position for future business as China furthers its commitment to GSM-R for railway communications," said Stephen Tsui, chief operating officer, Greater China, Nortel. "To further enhance the experience of millions of passengers traveling China's railways each day, a comprehensive and advanced communications network will help China power the rapid growth of its railway network and, in particular, its migration to 200-300km per hour fast trains."

Nortel will be providing MOR with its mobile switching centre solution - a flexible circuit and packet switching platform that delivers leading reliability complemented by the features and services required to manage and grow a core network. Nortel's full, end-to-end GSM-R solution also includes a railway-customised GSM-R base transceiver station for better trackside coverage under severe environmental conditions, and is scalable to support GPRS and high-speed data and voice communications.

Nortel is a world leader in GSM-R technology and has been selected to deploy GSM-R networks in nine countries, including national deployments for the three largest railway operations in Europe - RFF in France, Network Rail in Great Britain and Deutsche Bahn in Germany. Nortel has also deployed GSM-R networks for railway lines between Bilbao and Santander for Spain's Adif, for Eastern Railways in India, for Cesky drahy (CD) in the Czech Republic, and for Slovak Railways in Slovakia. In addition, Nortel has built dedicated, end-to-end high-speed line system for Deutsche Bahn's ICE between Frankfurt and Cologne, and for SIRTI in Italy between Rome and Naples.

Nortel has been a pioneer in the GSM-R standards process since 1992, and works with Union Internationale des Chemins de Fer (UIC) and the Europe Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) on standards improvements. Nortel supplied equipment for the initial Mobile Radio for Railways Networks in Europe (MORANE) trial and was a major contributor to the European Integrated Railway Radio Enhanced Network (EIRENE) GSM-R standard.