Nortel boosts One2One UK coverage

UK mobile operator One2One has signed a $54m deal with Nortel as part of an expansion programme for its national wireless network.

Nortel is currently installing additional radio equipment to the telco's network in the south east and west of England. This latest contract will develop the carrier's network in Scotland, the Lake District, Wales, Devon and Cornwall as well as continue with the current programme.

One2One says it already covers 96 per cent of the UK, and claims this expansion plan will further improve on that.

One2One's customer base grew by 910,000 in 1998 to nearly two million customers. A company spokesman said: "We are taking customers on at a rate of knots and we need to extend our geographical coverage. We also need to expand our network density otherwise we won't have capacity to support the increase in traffic - and then our customers will suffer."

Pascal Debon, president of GSM wireless solutions at Nortel networks, said: "We are delighted that One2One has renewed its confidence in us."

Nortel is one of two suppliers of GSM radio base stations to One2One, the other being Ericsson. It also provides GSM equipment to Telecel in Africa and Dutchtone in the Netherlands.