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Nokia plays a key role in Vodafone New Zealand's launch of 3G enabled services; delivering the behind-the-scenes network infrastructure that powers Vodafone's new range of services to customers.

From this week on, Vodafone customers can enjoy the latest mobile services that this new technology makes possible such as simultaneous voice and data sessions, for example video calling. 3G efficiently delivers the speed and capacity to support rich multimedia services and brings superior performance to mobile users.

Vodafone New Zealand Director of Technology Jeni Mundy says the launch of 3G enabled services is a huge milestone for Vodafone's 1.9 million customers and the New Zealand mobile market.

"Preparing for the launching of 3G enabled services has been an immense project for Vodafone and our key business partners. The amount of work that's gone into ensuring our network can deliver the best possible experience to our 3G customers is quite mind-blowing.

"Nokia has shown great commitment to our requirements to deliver quality network systems at competitive cost," she said.

Mundy said that Vodafone was bringing the world's most popular mobile technology, 3GSM, to its New Zealand customers to ensure that they have the best and most advanced technology available with advantages such as an extensive roaming footprint.

In May 2004, Vodafone announced that it had chosen Nokia to supply its 3G network infrastructure to Vodafone Australia and Vodafone New Zealand.

"We are delighted to have worked with Vodafone to roll out 3G to New Zealanders," says Paul Tyler, Nokia General Manager, Vodafone Business Team, Asia Pacific. "3G is the most important step in a decade of mobile service evolution."

Nokia is providing the complete 3G core and radio networks, supplying, deploying and testing the equipment in the field.

Nokia is also providing 3G network management, monitoring and maintenance services in an arrangement known as Managed Services.

Managed Services means Nokia is running the network to Vodafone's specifications allowing them to move away from day-to-day operations of their networks and focus on serving their customers.

Introducing new technology platforms and services is a highly complex business and Nokia has over 15 years experience in assisting operators deploy the latest technology.

With its operational expertise gained from running networks on behalf of operators around the world, Nokia is able to help operators provide the highest-quality service to their subscribers while also lowering their operating costs.