Nortel Boosts Bandwidth Power of Blue Sky Communications Network in American Samoa

Nortel’s GSM All-IP Product Line Provides Advanced Communication Services to South Pacific Island
TORONTO – Blue Sky Communications, the wireless service provider for American Samoa, is using All-IP Voice Core solutions from Nortel* [NYSE/TSX: NT] to provide new, operationally efficient communication services across this island territory of the U.S. By evolving to All-IP, Blue Sky Communications can extend the speed and bandwidth power of its existing wireless network to ensure the 55,000 people of this South Pacific island have access to the latest mobile broadband services.

As well as providing the foundation for a range of new services, Nortel’s All-IP product line will help Blue Sky Communications reduce costs by consolidating and simplifying how the network delivers these services, making it easier to manage and maintain. As a result, Blue Sky Communications can support the explosion in user demand for new communication services being driven by Hyperconnectivity - a global trend where anything that can be connected, will be. With an All-IP network, Blue Sky Communications can easily and cost-effectively deliver services that are rapidly increasing in demand throughout the island - services like VoIP, video and online gaming.

“Nortel understands that service providers with a limited subscriber base like Blue Sky Communications can find it challenging to meet customer demand for higher broadband mobile services while keeping fees at a level customers can afford,” said Graham Richardson, general manager, GSM Networks, Nortel. “That’s why we focused our innovation on creating an All-IP product line that helps keep operational costs down and makes it simple for service providers to boost the power of their existing network.”

“Blue Sky Communications prides itself on having one of the most complete and modern telecommunications systems within the South Pacific Islands,” said Jeff Harlow, chief operating officer, Blue Sky Communications. “Now, using the carrier-grade IP network made possible by Nortel’s All-IP product line, we can support advanced, broadband wireless applications and continue providing the world-class service our customers have come to expect.”

Blue Sky Communications is using Nortel’s MSC Server and Home Location Register (HLR), which use commercial-off-the-shelf ATCA technology to support GSM/UMTS Voice. In addition, Blue Sky Communications uses Nortel’s Media Gateway to transform TDM voice, a legacy networking technology, to VoIP. These products are compliant to R4 standards, which is a release of the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP)**. These products can reduce the cost of operation by enabling more efficient use of transmission capacity and reducing the amount of network equipment required to support wireless services on a platform that will provide a simple evolution path to 4G.

Nortel has all the elements needed to bring carriers successfully into the 4G world: innovation in WiMAX and LTE, a strong ecosystem, all IP-core, and a deep understanding of what consumer and business users are looking for from their wireless experience. Nortel has successfully deployed R4-compliant network equipment for both GSM and UMTS core network applications since 2005. These products provide the foundation for evolving to 4G networks.
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