The EUR 250 million facility will provide financial support for R&D in Europe which will build on the success of Nokia Siemens Networks’ multiradio technology platform. Nokia Siemens Networks’ award-winning Flexi Multiradio Base Station allows communications service providers (CSPs) to use a single base station platform to support several technologies, including GSM, WCDMA/HSPA/HSPA+ and Long Term Evolution (LTE} – all running concurrently in a single unit.
 
“Nokia Siemens Networks has some of Europe’s most talented and innovative developers working on radio access network products that are setting standards across the industry and we are delighted that the value of that work has been recognized by the EIB with this facility,” said Luca Maestri, Chief Financial Officer of Nokia Siemens Networks.
 
EIB Vice-President Eva Srejber said: “The EIB attaches particular importance to the development of a knowledge-based economy in the Union, which assures a long-term growth of European economies. We are happy to assist such promising initiatives.”
 
The development of a multimode platform allows CSPs a highly cost-efficient and environmentally sustainable roll-out of mobile broadband telecommunication services, as today’s technology deployments can support future requirements through simple upgrades. Multimode Radio Access Equipment is also a key requirement for developments in the field of mobile telecommunications, the so-called frequency re-farming. Frequency re-farming relates to the use of new technologies in GSM frequencies, as UMTS today and LTE in the future. Regulatory steps are being undertaken to allow this in the near future. Nokia Siemens Networks’ European Radio R&D is carried out in Finland, Germany, Poland and Italy.