Mobile networks today and tomorrow

At CeBIT 2001 in Hanover, Siemens Information and Communication Mobile (IC Mobile) presented its comprehensive offering for turnkey mobile communications based on GSM, GPRS and UMTS. New base station models for GSM and - developed in close co-operation with NEC Corporation - the "@vantage" product family of commercial base stations for UMTS/3G were shown. Another highlight were high performance UMTS applications demonstrated with data rates of up to 1.2 Mbit/s over a complete live UMTS network. Intelligent network services for billing and charging internet usage and secure payment by mobile phone in real time were also demonstrated live via a GPRS network. The evolution from GSM to GPRS to UMTS - Siemens IC Mobile presented the extended product range for mobile base stations with its six new models. Just like all other Siemens models, these base stations support wireless internet applications based on GPRS. They are scalable and are therefore ideally suitable for upgrading with the advent of future technologies. Upgrading the new Siemens base stations to the new EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) standard will be a simple matter. The future of mobile communications today - Siemens IC Mobile presented UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications Service) live. Trade visitors were able to learn about the new possibilities with Third Generation (3G) mobile networks and services from the trade stand or from a minivan. High performance internet surfing, mobile video conferences, downloading multimedia files and the intelligent, interactive city guide "City on Air" that searches for and displays hotels, restaurants or tourist sites, brought the endless mobile UMTS possibilities within reach. A complete IP-based multimedia network including switching and radio relay for UMTS were also demonstrated.