Using Nortel (News - Alert) GSM-R technology, Lithuania Railways reportedly has made Lithuania’s first GSM-R call possible, completing the call on the Vilnius and Kaunas route – one of Lithuania’s busiest rail lines.

 

GSM-R (Global System for Mobile Communications – Railway) or “GSM-Railway” is an international wireless communications standard for railway communication and applications. It’s also part of the European Rail Traffic Management System standard combining GSM-R for voice communication and European Train Control System for signaling systems. The standard aims to maintain the passenger safety and enable new features such as increased speed and higher traffic density, by using modern communication methods.

 

By providing reliable and secure communications among railway operational staff, Nortel’s GSM-R technology will help increase railway efficiency and safety. Based on the Advanced Telecommunications Computing Architecture platform, the new network includes Nortel All-IP Voice Core solution for rail operators. To deliver instant mobile communications benefits even at high-speeds, it offers a robust carrier-grade voice network using GSM-R infrastructure.

 

“Nortel is number one in GSM-R worldwide,” said Sorin Lupu, president, Eastern European Markets, Nortel. “GSM-R is helping increase the efficiency, speed, services, safety and reliability of the world’s railways and is also helping to make this form of transportation more competitive compared to others such as road transport and short-haul aviation. Nortel’s attention to developing energy-efficient solutions can also lead to operational cost reductions for railway operators.”

 

Helping LitRail comply with European Commission railway standards and provide high-speed, dependable communications, this is the first GSM-R project in the Baltic region. LitRail and the Nortel/Belam Consortium signed this multi-million euros countrywide GSM-R contract in December 2007. The deployment includes implementation of a GSM-R radio communication system along 1,560 kilometers (approximately 88% of the country’s rail network) of Lithuania’s rail routes.

 

Nortel recently announced improvements to its Agile (News - Alert) Communication Environment and Media Processing Server, in addition to the upcoming global availability of Contact Center 7.0. The company’s Agile Communication Environment is a next-generation software platform for business agility and productivity.