Leading global telecommunications company Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) announced yesterday that it signed a contract with China Mobile Group Beijing Ltd for the delivery of its first Flexi GSM Base Station in China.

An overview shows the construction site of the National Olympic Stadium, also known as the "Bird's Nest" in Beijing, November 18, 2007. Nokia Siemens Networks signed a contract with China Mobile Group Beijing Ltd for the delivery of its first Flexi GSM Base Station in China, which will be for the Bird's Nest. [Xinhua]

"It is our first sale of a Flexi GSM Base Station in China, which will be delivered for the Olympic stadium, the Bird's Nest," head of Nokia Siemens Networks Greater China Region Zhang Zhiqiang said. "We will make more such sales to the operators in the future."

The Flexi GSM Base Station is acclaimed as the smallest and most energy-efficient product on the market. According to Zhang, it enables energy savings of up to 70 percent .

In a large metropolis' network with approximately 5,000 base stations, it could save up to 73,000 tons of CO2 emissions.

"Flexi GSM Base Stations not only have positive environmental impacts but also offer other benefits for operators," Mika Vehvilainen, COO of NSN, said. "The cost doesn't vary much compared with previous technologies, but it substantially cuts costs for operators, because it reduces power consumption and cuts site costs while using less space."

"A growing number of operators are not only looking at their initial costs but also at the overall costs - how much it costs to operate the network. So, we have several advantages in terms of the overall cost of operating the network."

According to NSN, Flexi GSM Base Stations also create new potential sites in previously non-viable locations. The technology used in the bases makes it possible for operators to install them in places where size and weight limits would make it impossible to set up conventional base stations.