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WirelessDevNet.com Press Release
Siemens and Huawei start joint development of 3G/TD-SCDMA mobile technology
To mark the official start of the joint activities for 3G/TD-SCDMA mobile
communication technology, Siemens Information and Communication Mobile
(Siemens mobile) and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. today signed the contract
for the formation of the joint venture. Both companies expressed that they
join forces to promote the upcoming 3G mobile communication standard
TD-SCDMA. The joint venture will develop, manufacture and market TD-SCDMA
technology, for which both companies are together investing more than USD
100 million. The new company will be based in Beijing. Siemens mobile will
hold 51 percent of the joint venture, and the Chinese telecommunications
company Huawei Technologies 49 percent. Lothar Pauly, Chief Operating
Officer of Siemens mobile and Yafang Sun, Chairwoman of Huawei Technlogies,
were both confident at the signing of the contract that their combined
strength and know-how would give TD-SCDMA a powerful push for market success
in China.
Today's signing officially launches the joint development activities of
Siemens and Huawei. Siemens mobile already transferred its global R&D,
marketing and sales responsibilities for TD-SCDMA to Beijing. Siemens mobile
is contributing more than 200 employees, Huawei around 100. In several
months time, the joint venture will have 350 employees. In addition to the
company headquarters in Beijing, engineers will also work on the development
of infrastructure products in Shanghai.
The mobile standard TD-SCDMA, which complements GSM and W-CDMA, is currently
being put to the test in several trial networks. The Chinese Ministry of
Information Industry allocated a 155 MHz spectrum to TD-SCDMA in October
2002, thus paving the way for the commercial use of the standard in China.
Both partners in the joint venture hope that TD-SCDMA will succeed in the
Chinese market and convince operators in other countries to adopt the
standard. Manufacturing and marketing of the standard will, however,
initially be focused on China. The technology can be operated either as a
standalone network or used to supplement GSM or UMTS networks in order to
cope with heavy data traffic. The aim is to offer the first products of the
joint venture in the coming months and to participate in the official 3G
trials with operators set up under the governance of the Ministry of
Information Industry (MII) within this year.
Both companies bring to the joint venture decades of experience in
telecommunication technology. Siemens started its development in TD-SCDMA
back in 1998 and has to date invested more than EUR 170 million in this
technology. With several test networks running in China, Siemens has proved
that this technology is fast approaching market maturity. Siemens will be
contributing development know-how and products to the joint venture as well
as 200 Siemens employees already working in Beijing. Huawei is contributing
around 100 employees to the joint venture. Alongside development, it will
promote marketing and sales of the mobile technology in the Chinese market.
Lothar Pauly of Siemens mobile said: "We are proud to have found in Huawei a
partner who shares our vision for TD-SCDMA. Together, we will make the
standard a success in China. It is Siemens' declared aim to become the 3G
market leader in China." With 270 million mobile phone customers today,
China is the world's largest mobile communication market and is expected to
grow faster than the world market for several years.
"We are looking forward to working together with Siemens mobile in the
future, a leading mobile communications company," expressed Yafang Sun of
Huawei. "The cooperation will drive forward the commercial use of TD-SCDMA.
Both companies will also be able to optimize their development costs. Huawei
works with the top companies in the telecommunications industry. We develop
and supply our leading 3G products and solutions worldwide."
The Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group (Siemens mobile) is
one of the world's leading full-line suppliers in the field of mobile
communication, offering mobile phones, cordless phones, wireless modules and
mobile infrastructure, as well as all radio and switching modules,
consulting services and systems integration. The mobile communication arm of
Siemens AG markets products and services in more than 120 countries,
generating sales of ? 10 billion with a workforce of some 26,900 people in
fiscal 2003 (September 30). Siemens mobile is the world market leader in
prepaid solutions and digital cordless phones.
More: www.siemens-mobile.com/press
Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., established in 1988, is a high-tech
enterprise which specializes in research and development (R&D), production
and marketing of communications equipment, providing customized network
solutions for telecom carriers in optical, fixed, mobile and data
communications networks. As a non-state-owned business, Huawei Technologies
is one of the key suppliers in China's telecommunications market, and has
been achieving great successes in international markets. For 2003, Huawei
Technologies reached total sales of RMB31.7 billion and employed more than
22,000 people worldwide.
For more information on Huawei Technologies, please visit
http://www.huawei.com
Further information on TD-SCDMA is available on the Internet at:
TD-SCDMA Forum: http://www.tdscdma-forum.org, and
Siemens mobile: http://www.siemens-mobile.com/tdscdma
Press Contacts:
Siemens Information and Communication Mobile:
Ms. Andrea Rohmeder
Tel. +49 89 636-52740; Fax +49 89 636-53484
andrea.rohmeder@siemens.com
Huawei:
Mr. Fu Jun
Tel:0755-28780808
Fax: 0755-28782635
fujun@huawei.com
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