Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) has announced it has been selected by Telefonica O2 Germany, a subsidiary of Spanish telecoms group Telefonica, as one of the suppliers for the rollout of the operator’s Long Term Evolution (LTE) network. Telefonica O2 plans to launch LTE in the coming months using both the 800MHz and 2.6GHz frequency bands. Deployment will begin in so-called rural ‘white spot’ areas that are currently without any kind of broadband connectivity, followed by urban locations. Under the three-year contract, NSN will install its Flexi Multiradio Base Stations to implement the LTE sites in large parts of Germany. It will also provide a full set of hardware and software maintenance services, and will continue to expand and maintain the operator’s 2G/3G network.
In a separate announcement, Telefonica O2 Germany has revealed that it will change its name to Telefonica Germany on 1 April 2011, following the full integration of fixed line provider HanseNet. During 2011 the Spanish company will introduce the new corporate brand across all its Telefonica Europe operations, starting with Germany. The O2 brand will remain for all products and services in both the private and the business customer sectors. ‘We have belonged to Telefonica for exactly five years and we cooperate very closely in all sorts of areas,’ commented Rene Schuster, CEO of Telefonica O2 Germany, adding: ‘With our new name we are once again making it clear that we are part of one of the world’s biggest telecoms companies.’