Huawei and Telenor have deployed what they claim to be, “the world’s northernmost LTE site”.  It is located on Svalbard, an archipelago in the Arctic Circle. The unique LTE site, which uses Huawei's SingleRAN LTE solution, was built in Longyearbyen, Svalbard's largest settlement and the world's most northerly town. With the temperature on Svalbard plummeting to 50 degrees below zero in winter, Huawei’s LTE equipment has to be capable of optimal performance under extreme weather conditions.

Huawei, a leading telecom solutions provider, today announced that it has teamed up with Telenor Norway, the incumbent telecommunications company in Norway, to jointly launch the world's northernmost LTE site. The site is deployed on Svalbard, an archipelago located at 78°13'N in the Arctic Circle in a climate so extreme that the temperature plummets to 50 degrees below zero in the winter. Huawei's LTE equipment has historically demonstrated excellent stability in extreme weather conditions and Telenor, which has provided service on the islands for 100 years, has entrusted Huawei to enable it to continue this exemplary service.

100 years ago, Telenor built the first telegraph tower on the islands and now, 100 years later, Telenor has launched Svalbard's first LTE site. For everything ranging from radio waves to wireless broadband, Huawei will assist Telenor to complete the service platform evolution in order to retain the industry lead.

The unique LTE site, which uses Huawei's industry-leading SingleRAN LTE solution, is deployed in Longyearbyen, Svalbard's largest settlement and the world's most northerly town. During the launch ceremony, attendees were able to test the LTE service and were rewarded with stable and smooth HD video streaming at a downlink speed of more than 100Mbps.
Mr. Harald Norvik, chairman of the board of Telenor Group, said, "Svalbard has changed radically in recent years, and we have continually improved the communications options for the local populace. The launch of this advanced LTE network marks the next step in our evolution."

"The accomplishment of this LTE launch in the Svalbard archipelago shows that Huawei wireless equipment is capable of optimal performance in even the harshest natural conditions. It's our honor to cooperate with Telenor in providing this advanced communication service for the denizens of Svalbard. Huawei will continue to understand the requirements of its customers, and we remain committed to being the best business partner for operators around the world,"said Berit Kjøll, Executive Vice President of Huawei Norway.

Huawei has served as the sole wireless vendor of Telenor Norway since 2009, and it is in charge of the entire GSM/UMTS network modernization effort in Norway.

About Telenor
Telenor Group is an international provider of tele, data and media communication services. Telenor Group has mobile operations in 11 markets in the Nordic region, Central and Eastern Europe and in Asia, as well as an economic stake of 39.6 per cent in VimpelCom Ltd., operating in 10 markets. Headquartered in Norway, Telenor Group is one of the world's major mobile operators with 120 million mobile subscriptions in its consolidated operations per Q1 2011, revenues in 2010 of NOK 95 billion, and a workforce of approximately 32,900 employees. For more information about Telenor Group, please visit www.telenor.com