Nokia Wins EUR100 Million Contract From Kuwait's Wataniya

DUBAI -(Dow Jones)- Nokia (NOK) has won a EUR100 million contract to provide Kuwait's Wataniya Telecom with advanced technologies for the Kuwaiti mobile operator's network.

Wataniya, one of two mobile operators in Kuwait, in a statement said Nokia would deliver state-of-the-art radio and core networks technology.

A Wataniya spokesman confirmed that the contract for the first phase is worth EUR100 million, without revealing details of other phases in the Nokia-Wataniya partnership.

"This relationship gives us a platform to provide the most advanced, capable and reliable network services in the region, if not worldwide, to our customers," Harri Koponen, Wataniya Telecom's chief executive, said in the statement.

Nokia will support "beyond 3G" HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) technology, which opens the way to mobile broadband Internet access at speeds up to 2 megabits per second in the first phase, the statement said.

Wataniya has operations in Kuwait, Iraq, Tunisia, and Algeria, with more than 2 million customers.

-By Simeon Kerr, Dow Jones Newswires, +97143908134, simeon.kerr@dowjones.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires"

Posted to the site on 29th May 2005