The Norwegian National Rail Administration (Jernbaneverket) and Nokia Siemens Networks have signed a 20-year support agreement for the complete maintenance of the country’s railway communications network.

The contract which includes hardware services, spare-parts management, software support and upgrades will provide Norway’s rail system with a high-performance, always-on communications system. It follows Nokia Siemens Networks’ implementation of a new digital GSM-Railways (GSM-R) mobile network.

In operation for more than a year now, the GSM-R solution delivered by Nokia Siemens Networks has increased traffic safety for Norwegian trains by ensuring seamless communication for employees along the length and breadth of the country’s railway tracks. An integrated digital radio communication system for voice and data, GSM-R is based on well-proven GSM mobile technology and specified as a dedicated mobile communication system for railway operations.

The Care services are performed by dedicated service specialists at the Nokia Siemens Networks Care Center. Among the services included are ticket handling, third line incident processing and troubleshooting, software maintenance and exchange and repair of defective network components. By the provision of this dedicated operational service, Jernbaneverket benefits from minimized network downtime and data loss, reduces its operating costs (OPEX) and maintains a high-quality network.

“The service contract with Nokia Siemens Networks was a natural succession to the turn key delivery of our GSM-R network so that we could sustain superior service from such a complex network. A complete Care support package offered by Nokia Siemens Networks secures high availability and a one stop shop for all maintenance and support needs of the network,” said Ørjan Berg Johansen, Operations Manager, Norwegian National Rail Administration.

Nokia Siemens Networks is one of the inventors of the GSM-R technology, with Siemens researching and creating the GSM-R standard in the early 1990s. To date, the company has deployed more than 20 GSM-R networks in 15 countries serving some 50.000 km of railways.