Nortel and partner Prisma Engineering have announced end-to-end Evolved EDGE communication that delivers higher data rates, better spectral efficiency and longer battery life for handsets compared to other solutions, according to the company.

As Evolved EDGE enables operators to extend the life and broaden the capabilities of GSM, it further enhances the revenue-generating capabilities of existing assets. The solution delivers the speed and performance required to offer enhanced services at a fraction of the cost of deploying 3G systems.

According to Nortel, the quality of the end-user experience is key to the acceptance of new technologies. The dual-carrier Evolved EDGE technology can achieve double the throughput compared to existing EDGE solutions.

The company intends to demonstrate the solution at Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) that will include live video streaming over Evolved EDGE and LTE (News - Alert). This demonstrates the coupling of these technologies to deliver network-wide service continuity. Evolved EDGE uses Nortel BSS commercial equipment and the Prisma dual-carrier mobile simulator.

Graham Richardson, general manager GSM, Nortel explained in a statement that while today, network-wide data services are delivered by EDGE, tomorrow, broadband data services will be delivered by Evolved EDGE which will bring two to four times the speed of EDGE. He noted that this evolution of GSM technology provides a cost-effective bridge to LTE and full service continuity between GSM and LTE. Nortel’s Evolved EDGE solution supports mobile broadband in a cost-effective manner for operators.

Nortel further explains that a simple software upgrade for an existing EDGE network enables Evolved EDGE and can more than double the spectral efficiency. The upgrade enhances data performance rate with a downlink throughput of up to 1.2 Mbps with reduced latency. The company adds that in practice these enhancements deliver an improved end-user experience and access a full range of mobile applications including VoIP, gaming, Web browsing, e-mail and video streaming.

Using the same spectrum as GSM and EDGE, Evolved EDGE allows broadband speeds to be supported across the existing network. Evolved EDGE standardization is under finalization in 3GPP Rel-7 and is expected to be introduced to commercial networks in 2009.