NSN Completes Live VoLTE Tests in China Mobile's TD-LTE Network:

Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) says that it has successfully completed the world's first live video call and an extensive set of test cases for Voice over LTE (VoLTE) in China Mobile's pre-commercial TD-LTE network in Fuzhou.

To verify the functionality and performance of VoLTE in its TD-LTE network, China Mobile set up parallel VoLTE trial projects with several mobile broadband equipment vendors in different parts of the country. NSN completed the first TDD eSRVCC video call on January 4, 2014, and a set of tests on January 29, 2014.

A video call made in an LTE network that utilizes eSRVCC allows a call that is established in the IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) over VoLTE and then handed over to 2G/3G using voice continuity. This means the voice portion of the call can continue seamlessly even if 4G coverage is no longer available.

"Our hard work in integrating the VoLTE solution in China Mobile's pre-commercial TD-LTE network paid off when we were able to complete this set of tests ahead of our competition," said Markus Borchert, president of Greater China Region at NSN. "Our solution allows efficient use of deployed network assets and provides exceptionally fast call setup times."

NSN Opens Sales Office in Libya:

Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) has opened a new office with in Tripoli, Libya. The company said that the new office strengthens its presence in North Africa and reiterates its commitment to the Middle East and Africa region.

The office was inaugurated last evening by Igor Leprince, head of Middle East & Africa business region, NSN, in the presence of Faisel Gergab, chairman of the Libyan Post, Telecommunication and Information Technology Company (LPTIC), and the dignitaries of Libyan telecom operators including Al Jeel, Al Madar, and Libyana.

"We are delighted that NSN as a global technology leader is opening a new office in Tripoli," said Faisel Gergab. "This enhances the position of Libya as a technology hub, while improving knowledge transfer toward our country. NSN's operations in Libya will greatly contribute to our mobile broadband infrastructure and the country's development."

NSN is also training Libyan telecom engineers to become mobile broadband practitioners, and collaborating with Libyan universities to impart telecom expertise to students through seminars and internship opportunities.

Nokia Solutions and Networks embarks on sales expansion drive:

Nokia's telecoms equipment unit, NSN, is focusing on expanding sales after years of concentrating on cost cutting and ditching unprofitable contracts to improve margins, its chief executive said on Wednesday.

Nokia Solutions and Networks (NSN) CEO Rajeev Suri, considered a leading candidate to head the Finnish company after it sells its loss-making handset business to Microsoft, did not rule out acquisitions to expand the business.

"It would be unwise for us not to scan the market and see what's available. Of course we'll do that," Suri said in an interview on Wednesday.

Cuts, including a drastic restructuring plan that slashed around a quarter of NSN's workforce, and the ditching of unprofitable service contracts, have helped NSN turn profitable.

The unit's improved finances and cash from the Microsoft deal are seen providing the new Nokia ammunition to go after smaller rivals. Sources told Reuters in late September that Nokia was considering buying French rival Alcatel-Lucent's wireless business.

But the 46-year old Suri also stressed that it was not always necessary to acquire weaker rivals, adding that: "We don't have to do deals for the sake of deals, just because we have money."

"I am a believer in market forces determining the outcome. I'm a believer in 'just wait.'"

NSN, a joint venture of Nokia and Siemens until Nokia bought out the German company's stake in August, will account for over 90 percent of the group's sales.

It booked an underlying profit for the sixth straight quarter in the three months through end-September. Yet net sales in that quarter fell 24 percent from a year earlier, a decline Suri said the company needs to address.

"It's logical now to focus on top line," he said