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SnapTrack and TCS Announce Agreement to Provide Shared Wireless Location Server Platform for E911 and Location-Based Services
Service to Host Multiple Carriers, Cut Costs and Speed E911 Deployment for CDMA Carriers
CAMPBELL, Calif. and ANNAPOLIS, Md., Jul 22, 2002 - SnapTrack, Inc.(R), a wholly-owned subsidiary of
QUALCOMM Incorporated (Nasdaq: QCOM), and TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. (TCS) (Nasdaq: TSYS), today announced an
agreement to provide Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) carriers with a service-bureau style wireless location server platform, or Position
Determining Entity (PDE), that can be shared by multiple carriers deploying E911 public safety systems and commercial services based on
QUALCOMM's SnapTrack-enhanced gpsOne(TM) high-precision wireless location system. This carrier-class PDE platform combines
SnapTrack's SnapSmart(TM) location server software with TCS' world-class Xypoint(R) Location Platform, and can simultaneously fulfill the
PDE and Mobile Positioning Center (MPC) needs of multiple wireless operators. This platform provides carriers with an alternative to
purchasing their own PDE and MPC systems to meet the Federal Communication Commission's E911 mandate, and will also support carriers
choosing to launch new value-added, location-based services such as friend finder, personal direction finding, mobile yellow pages, and child
safety services. TCS has confirmed its first two customers to use the hosted service, with deployment planned by the end of 2002.
"This relationship with TCS fulfills a critical E911 deployment need for CDMA carriers in North America, especially those carriers preferring to
use a service bureau for their PDE needs rather than deploying their own system," said Bret Sewell, president of SnapTrack. "We believe this
alternate approach for supporting gpsOne technology will not only help carriers with E911, but also enable specialty consumer and enterprise
location-based service providers to enter the market more quickly."
"This combined solution is ideal for wireless carriers who are concerned about the cost or effort to deploy Phase II E911," said Maurice B.
Tose, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer for TCS. "This offer considerably shortens E911 deployment time and ensures that
carriers have access to all the elements needed to comply with the public safety mandate. We believe that by speeding E911 deployments, this
new hosted PDE and MPC solution will help meet the needs of carriers and emergency operators around the nation and save lives."
This new service builds on the existing partnership between SnapTrack and TCS, which was announced last fall. The two companies, at that
time, confirmed the commercial availability of the Wide Area Reference Network (SnapWARN(TM)) GPS system data feed, which provides
PDEs such as SnapTrack's SnapSmart PDE software with a continuous stream of GPS satellite reference information to be used in gpsOne
location calculations.
The carrier-class platform is scalable based upon the needs of the carriers simultaneously sharing the resources provided by the platform, and
will incorporate multiple PDE hosting sites to ensure redundancy and high availability. The new shared PDE system is based on TCS' successful
Xypoint Location Platform, and integrates SnapTrack's SnapSmart location server software to support gpsOne-based CDMA handsets based
on QUALCOMM's position-enabled MSM(TM) series CDMA modem chipsets. The SnapSmart location server software solution combines
Assisted GPS and wireless CDMA network information to provide industry leading position location performance. It rapidly produces highly
accurate three-dimensional position fixes by combining terrestrial and satellite positioning information and by reducing the errors introduced by
atmospheric disturbances and multi-path effects. These resulting error maps minimize measurement errors within the system and increase yields
of successful position determination to nearly 100 percent. In CDMA systems, a position can be determined nearly anywhere a call can be
placed -- even inside buildings and in urban street canyons.
QUALCOMM's cost-effective MSM-series of CDMA chipsets include an integrated QUALCOMM gpsOne implementation using SnapTrack
technology, and provide robust data availability under the most challenging conditions, whether in concrete-and-steel high-rises, convention
centers, shopping malls or urban canyons. Using a hybrid approach that utilizes signals from both the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite
constellation and CDMA cell sites, the gpsOne solution enhances location services availability, expands terrain coverage, accelerates the
location determination process and provides better accuracy for callers, whether during emergency situations or while using GPS-enabled
commercial applications. The gpsOne solution is embedded into QUALCOMM MSM CDMA chipsets, the very same chipsets that run
CDMA wireless phones, thereby minimizing incremental costs and ensuring there is little change to a cell phone's size, weight or battery life. The
gpsOne solution can also be implemented with other wireless air interfaces including QUALCOMM's multimode MSM wireless modems.
TCS' Xypoint Location Platform is the only software and network services platform to combine presence, location and privacy centers in one
unit, and is the most widely deployed location platform in the United States. TCS offers a location privacy element to the Xypoint Location
Platform that helps network operators meet the guidelines set forth by the Cellular Telecommunications and Internet Association (CTIA) for
consideration by federal agencies with privacy oversight authority.
TCS is evolving wireless technology. As the key architect of wireless location and messaging technology, TCS delivers software, services and
solutions to carriers that enable people to better manage their mobile lifestyle. TCS occupies a strategic position within the core of the wireless
carrier network enabling it to develop technology that ensures the security, reliability and privacy of people's wireless messages. TCS is a
technology provider to carriers worldwide including Verizon Wireless, Vodafone, Telefonica and VoiceStream. Through its solutions group,
TCS deploys advanced technologies and products that promote the continued evolution of wireless services. For further information on TCS'
Xypoint Location Platform, visit www.telecomsys.com.
Headquartered in Campbell, California, SnapTrack (a QUALCOMM Company) pioneered Wireless Assisted GPS(TM) and owns patents that
are fundamental to the cost-effective deployment of Wireless Assisted GPS-based location systems. SnapTrack's Hybrid Wireless Assisted
GPS system enhances QUALCOMM's MSM chipset-based gpsOne location solution, and offers anytime, anywhere, accurate, high-speed
location of a wireless caller, even inside buildings where conventional GPS does not operate. The Company's Wireless Assisted GPS products
include the SnapSmart location server software system, the SnapCore(TM) multimode GPS solution and the SnapWARN GPS reference data
feed service. For more information, please visit http://www.snaptrack.com.
QUALCOMM Incorporated ( www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications
products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in
the S&P 500 Index and traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market(R) under the ticker symbol QCOM.
Except for the historical information contained herein, this news release contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and
uncertainties, including the Company's ability to successfully design and have manufactured significant quantities of CDMA components on a
timely and profitable basis, the extent and speed to which CDMA is deployed, change in economic conditions of the various markets the
Company serves, as well as the other risks detailed from time to time in the Company's SEC reports, including the report on Form 10-K for the
year ended September 30, 2001, and most recent Form 10-Q.
QUALCOMM, OmniTRACS, OmniExpress and Eudora are registered trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. gpsOne and MSM are
trademarks of QUALCOMM Incorporated. Wireless Assisted Global Positioning System, SnapCore, SnapSmart and SnapWARN are
trademarks of SnapTrack, Inc. TeleCommunication Systems, Inc is a registered trademark and Xypoint Location Platform is a trademark of
TeleCommunication Systems, Inc. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
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