TT-Netvaerket, the joint venture established by Telenor Denmark and Telia Denmark to operate their shared Danish mobile networks, has extended its contract with Nokia Networks for the supply of radio access network (RAN) equipment. Under the agreement, Nokia Networks will provide its Flexi Multi Radio Base Stations 10 and Long Term Evolution (LTE) Small cells, in addition to coordinated Multi Point (CoMP) and Carrier Aggregation (CA) technologies for LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) services.
According to TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database, in June 2011 Telenor and Telia entered into an agreement to operate a shared mobile network, and subsequently established TT-Netvaerket to operate the infrastructure in February 2012. The upgrade work for merging their respective 3G/4G networks was completed in April 2014, at which date the companies had 3,900 3G base transceiver stations (BTS) covering 99% of the Danish population, compared to 2,400 before the infrastructure sharing agreement began, while LTE network services had become available in 192 cities/towns, equivalent to 80% of the population. The two operators began work on combining their respective 2G networks soon after, with the merger finalised in December 2014. TT-Netvaerket is planning to deploy 600 LTE-enabled BTS in 2015, while also introducing new technologies, including Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE).
Telenor’s network director Kim Krogh Andersen said: ‘I am pleased that the agreement with Nokia Networks fell into place. Continued cooperation means that we avoid disturbances in the network and training of our technicians in new equipment. Now we can instead, along with one of the world’s most innovative suppliers, maintain the stability of the network and build on the high quality that we have achieved since 2013.’