Nokia Siemens Networks Brings TD-LTE to Spain

Nokia Siemens Networks says that it provided the infrastructure needed to complete the first TD-LTE mobile broadband pilot in Murcia, Spain, ahead of a November launch for commercial services.

COTA, a new player in Spanish telecoms, working with Wimax Online, selected Nokia Siemens Networks as sole supplier for a customer-focused end-to-end LTE service. The operator plans to launch commercial services by the end of the year.

The implementation, in the autonomous “Región de Murcia”, is Southern Europe’s first TD-LTE, 2.6 GHz network.

COTA acquired 10 MHz in the 2.6 GHz band auction in the summer of 2011 and immediately began to plan for a service launch. Wimax Online will benefit from the wholesale LTE access provided by COTA. In addition to extending the existing service portfolio with broadband offering, they will provide DSL-like services in the Murcia region where it is currently not possible to provide fixed-internet connectivity and VoIP. COTA also plans to provide television services through an IPTV-platform in the future.

The deployment marks the first Single Radio Access Network (RAN) TD-LTE project in South Europe, the first Band 38 TD-LTE deployment in Spain, and one of the first 4G networks in South Europe.

Miguel Araujo, head of customer teams for Spain and Portugal at Nokia Siemens Networks, said, “Nokia Siemens Networks understood that the first priority for COTA was to provide best-in-class customer experience for the end users. We put our focus and attention in building flexible Single RAN capacity to meet the growing demand for broadband services in the region of Murcia.”