Motorola/Cisco Alliance Solution to Enable Commercial GPRS Services During First half Of 2001 for Estimated 110,000 Subscribers
BEIJING and ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill., December 21, 2000Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) has been awarded a General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network supply contract by China Mobile Communications Corporation (China Mobile), China's leading GSM operator. Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed.
Under the terms of the deal, Motorola will deliver its industry-leading GPRS high-speed mobile data network to four major Chinese cities. With the widest GSM network coverage in China, China Mobile will be able to offer GPRS service to the rapidly expanding Chinese mobile cellular market, utilizing the world's first proven commercial GPRS system from Motorola's Global Telecom Solutions Sector and strategic alliance partner Cisco Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:CSCO).
The new service, planned for the first half of next year, is expected to serve an estimated 110,000 subscribers in Hangzhou, Chengdu, Tianjin, and Beijing, the capital of China. These China Mobile subscribers will be able to enjoy the "always on, always connected" feature of GPRS technology, plus a wealth of data applications, including e-commerce, email, and data transfer through the new GPRS network. Motorola's Chinese-language GPRS phones, the model L2000g, as well as the A6288, which offers a Chinese touch screen, are expected to available in the China market early next year.
"In a rapidly growing cellular market, China Mobile has continually offered its subscribers services that exceed their expectations. The advent of GPRS is the next stage in the development of mobile networks, and the first stage in the move towards third generation networks," said Ruey Bin Kao, Motorola vice president and general manager of the China Telecom Carrier Solutions Group. " We value our strong relationship with China Mobile and we look forward to working closely with them as we develop China's Wireless Internet. Mobile phone users in China will soon start using some of the latest wireless services made available thanks to the new technology," said Kao.
Motorola, through its alliance with Cisco, is the only commercial supplier worldwide with complete end-to-end GPRS network solutions in commercial service. China Mobile is the latest GSM operator to announce its selection of the Motorola/Cisco GPRS solution, which is already being deployed across Europe and in India and Malaysia. Motorola has been a major GSM network supplier to China Mobile since 1995.
The Motorola/Cisco GPRS data solution enables operators to take advantage of many new revenue opportunities. Together Cisco and Motorola are driving market growth and developing applications and value-added services to provide operators with innovative and competitive offerings for their subscriber base.
