SINGAPORE, Oct. 25 (UPI) -- The Finnish telecommunications group Nokia has signed a deal worth more than $36 million with Malaysian operator TIMECel to expand its global wireless telephone system.
The network is expected to be operational during first quarter of next year.
TIMECel, a unit of TIME DotCom, plans to expand its global phone network capacity and coverage to meet subscriber growth, enhance network quality and upgrade its Short Messaging Service Center, the company said in a release.
TIMECel's competitor, TM Cellular, earlier announced contracts worth $198 million to expand and upgrade its own global system for mobile communications network, with a view to set up for General Packet Radio Services by next year.
Nokia will offer a base station "solution" to address the increasing demand for higher voice and data traffic.
Robert Fox, chief operating officer of TIME DotCom, the parent company of TIMECel, said the move was a fundamental requirement for the more content-rich Mobile Internet Applications that are in the pipeline.
TIMECel has 880,000 subscribers with 15-20 percent growth expected next year.
