Nokia and Cable & Wireless have signed a new agreement under which the handset and networking gear maker will provide the telecommunications company with GSM and WCDMA radio technology.
Under the terms of the deal, the first established between the two large companies in the mobile networks space, Nokia will provide Cable & Wireless with radio networking gear and software including its HSDPA (High Speed Downlink Packet Access) technology, and core wireless network components including its 3GPP softswitch server software.
HSDPA claims to offer breakthrough wireless data processing speeds up to five times (10M bps) faster than most 3G networks, as well as doubling the processing capacity of mobile communications base station gear.
The 3GPP server software is used to upgrade mobile networks so that carriers can offer expanded multimedia services to wireless customers.
Cable & Wireless said the deal would allow it to update its mobile networks and save money on operations maintenance, while also giving the firm the ability to launch new 3G multimedia content services for its subscribers.
The deal comes as the two companies face very different business prospects coming out of the 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, where Nokia announced a litany of new products and partnerships, while Cable & Wireless fights to repair its image after CEO Francesco Caio quit his post abruptly earlier this month after the company warned that it would likely report disappointing profits through calendar 2007.
Just before leaving the firm, Caio split Cable & Wireless into two separate companies, one of which will consist of its U.K.-based Energis Communications and Bulldog broadband business units and will be run by former Energis chief John Pluthero.
Cable & Wireless purchased Energis in the summer of 2005 for just over $1 billion.
The companys international business, which includes its wireless and fixed-line operations, will make up the other division and be headed by executive Harris Jones, who already oversaw management of those units.
Check out eWEEK.coms for the latest news, reviews and analysis on mobile and wireless computing.