"Europe strengthens research links with Asia"

LONDON (18. 11. 2002) (ots/APROTEXT) - With 3G mobile incommercial service in Japan since October 2001, an importantfocus for Asia over the past year has become the future evolutionof mobile communications. 'Mobile IT' is seen in Asia as a keyfuture market, with estimates of potential revenue in Japanalone exceeding 42 trillion Yen over the decade 2001-2011[reference 1] and with China, Japan and Korea all fundingresearch to grow their industry.

As a direct result of a DTI-supported technology mission toJapan on future mobile communications in April this year[reference 2], research links between Europe and Japan are beingstrengthened this week, with the signing of a Memorandum ofUnderstanding between the UK-based Virtual Centre of Excellencein Mobile & Personal Communications (Mobile VCE) and YokosukaResearch Park (YRP). YRP is a science park tasked withpromoting research and development of mobile telecommunicationstechnologies. Mobile VCE is an industry-steered internationalresearch organization developing innovative concepts andtechnological solutions relating to mobile and personalcommunications and adjacent technologies.

On behalf of Mobile VCE, Dr Walter Tuttlebee, ExecutiveDirector, Dr Keith Baughan, Chairman, and Mr Alec Brooks,Company Secretary, will sign the Memorandum of Understanding.YRP signatories are Professor Dr Mitsutoshi Hatori and Mr AkioMotai, respectively Chairman and President of YRP R&D PromotionCommittee, and Mr Hideo Sawada, President of Yokosuka TelecomResearch Park, Inc. and Mayor of Yokosuka City.

The Memorandum of Understanding will facilitate mutualcooperation with a view to exchange of information and researchpersonnel, and a range of joint activities relating to research,marketing of technologies, events, public relations and businessintroductions.

Yokosuka Research Park Yokosuka Research Park, which becameoperational in October 1997 after ten years of conceptformulation and planning efforts, is an international mobilecommunications research site, today housing some 6000 scientistsand engineers from over 60 research organizations from variousparts of the world.

Yokosuka Research Park R&D Committee, a predecessor of theYRP R&D Promotion Committee, was established to promote R&D atYRP at the time of the research park's opening. Its membershipcomprises 120 world telecom-related companies and organizations,and it performs various activities aimed at providing support toresearch.

Mobile VCE Mobile VCE is a not-for-profit company, founded in1996, whose members represent an industry-academic partnershipof over 35 organisations, including global wireless industryplayers and the UK's leading universities in mobilecommunications. With a mission of industry-led, long-term, high-quality innovation, aimed at facilitating the growth of themobile communications business, Mobile VCE has developed aninternational reputation for its research, which is availablefor exploitation royalty free by its industrial members.Industrial Steering Groups oversee its research programmes instrategic areas of wireless industry development, includingwireless access, internetworking and security, inter alia.

Mobile VCE's membership is open to small and large companiesfrom all parts of the value chain and all countries and includemobile operators (eg Hutchison 3G, Orange, O2, SK Telecom, T-Mobile, Vodafone), infrastructure manufacturers (eg Fujitsu,Lucent, Nortel, Siemens) and handset manufacturers (Matsushita,Motorola, NEC, Nokia, Philips, Samsung, Sony, Toshiba), as wellas players from adjacent industries such as broadcasting (BBC,Crown Castle, NTL) and satellite communications (Inmarsat).

[Reference 1] Report from the Committee of Future MobileCommunications Systems of the Telecommunications Council, Japan,June 25th 2001, page 11.

[Reference 2] "Japan's Vision for a Wireless World",GlobalWatch, October 2002, published by the UK Government,Department of Trade & Industry's International TechnologyService, pages 12-13.

About The Virtual Centre of Excellence in Mobile & PersonalCommunications (Mobile VCE) Established in 1996, Mobile VCEoperates at the interface between the wirelesstelecommunications industry and relevant academia. Reflecting thenature of its industrial members, the vision of Mobile VCE isglobal and its research internationally recognised. It is inprocess of establishing new linkages with similar researchorganisations, such as this one with YRP, in Asia and in NorthAmerica.

Mobile VCE's membership currently comprise the followingcompanies - BBC, Crown Castle International, Degree2Innovations, Fujitsu, Hutchison 3G, Independent TelevisionCommission, Inmarsat, Lucent, Matsushita, Motorola, NEC, Nortel,Nokia, NTL, O2, Orange, Philips, the UK's mobile regulator theRadiocommunications Agency, Samsung, Siemens, SK Telecom, Sony,T-Mobile, Tality, Texas Instruments, Thales, Toshiba, Vodafone -and the following universities - Bradford, Bristol, Edinburgh,Kings College London, Royal Holloway College, Southampton,Strathclyde and Surrey.

About Yokosuka Research Park (YRP) - Yokosuka Research Parkhas been actively seeking cooperation with overseas scienceparks involved in research and development of IT through overseassurveys or international conferences. In the past two years YRPhas signed similar agreements with several science parks and ITresearch organizations in Asia, North America and elsewhereEurope.

ots Original Text Service: mobile VCE Internet:http://www.presseportal.de

For further information, please contact: Mobile VCE: Dr.Walter Tuttlebee, Executive Director, Mobile VCE TEL +44 (0)1256338604 FAX +44 (0)1256 316589 E-mail: jennyj@mobilevce.com Web:http://www.mobilevce.com

YRP Hideo Sekiguchi, Secretary General, Yokosuka ResearchPark Promotion Society TEL +81 (0)468-47-5008 FAX +81 (0)468-47-5010 E-mail: Kamimura@yrp.co.jp Web: http://www.yrp.co.jp/en/ The Virtual Centre of Excellence in Mobile & PersonalCommunications

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