Nokia Connection 2005, Helsinki, Finland - At its annual Nokia Connection events in Helsinki and Singapore today, Nokia launches new network products and services that will help operators excel in the rapidly converging world of telecommunications. "Life is going mobile as never before," said Simon Beresford-Wylie, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Networks, Nokia. "Our industry is now in the midst of a major transition, with the key drivers being convergence, IP, the take-off of WCDMA, and the arrival of new competition. On top of this, mobile subscriber growth continues unabated, especially in Asia, Latin America, Africa and the Middle East. By 2010, the total subscriber base will have swelled to 3 billion.'' ''To capitalize on the opportunities brought about by this transition, operators will need to be exceptionally agile and efficient," continued Beresford-Wylie. "The products Nokia is launching today will help our operator customers by giving them the tools to do just that." The Nokia Unified Charging Suite, launched at the Singapore event, combines different Nokia products to form a fully convergent charging solution that lets operators offer the same services, rate-plans and loyalty programs to all subscribers, regardless of whether they are prepaid and postpaid, whether the services are for voice and data content, or whether the network is fixed or mobile, 2G or 3G. The solution will support the entire customer base including consumers, businesses and service providers. The Nokia Service Delivery Framework is a holistic approach to help operators build an optimal service delivery platform in order to seize new service opportunities by delivering new services in a rapid and cost-efficient manner. The Nokia framework alleviates operators' often-complex service delivery environments that have been built up incrementally, resulting in heavy OPEX overhead. The Nokia Network Expert Club is an innovative learning environment for nurturing mobile network experts. It creates a flexible environment that allows experts in Nokia's operator customers' organizations to develop their chosen competences at their own speed, contributing to the effectiveness and efficiency of their operations. Nokia continues to enjoy strong leadership in networks, supplying 33 out of the world's 73 commercial WCMA networks. Nokia has 48 WCDMA references, and 47 EDGE references, by far the most EDGE references of any vendor. Nokia is also the market leader in mobile soft switches, as the only company with a 3GPP Release 4 MSC Server System (MSS) for combined 2G/3G networks on the market. Nokia has over 50 customers for the Nokia MSS, of which over 30 are already commercially rolling out the system in GSM and WCDMA networks. Moreover, Nokia has demonstrated that it's in the services business to stay by building an experienced team this year recruited from the leaders of the IT industry. Services currently comprise about one-third of the Networks business group's headcount and over a quarter of its business. About Nokia Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators