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Beijing, January 20, 2003 - Datang Mobile Communications
Equipment Co., Ltd. (Datang Mobile), Royal Philips Electronics
and Samsung Electronics today announced the formation of a
joint venture company, named T3G. T3G will design and license
core TD-SCDMA chipsets and reference designs for mobile terminals
and end-user equipment. The company aims to provide a complete
solution (reference design, hardware and software) for handset
manufacturers and cellular phone design houses in order to
speed up the production of the first commercial TD-SCDMA handsets,
likely to be available in 2004.
The availability of the T3G reference design will speed up
the development of cost-effective dual mode TD-SCDMA/GSM handsets
in China, a factor which will ease operators' migration from
second to third generation networks. With limited capital
outlay operators will be able to immediately increase capacity,
enabling them to improve profitability by building subscriber
numbers for 2.5G and 3G services simultaneously. Operators
will therefore be in a position to roll out reliable mobile
broadband services in line with demand.
T3G plans to produce core chipsets and reference designs for
TD-SCDMA/GSM (GPRS) dual-mode mobile handsets that will be
brought to market by Samsung and other handset manufacturers.
The technology is designed to reduce the current bottlenecks
in the development of 3G handsets by providing benefits including
reduced power consumption and improved standby time. The collaboration
combines Datang's TD-SCDMA expertise, Philips' cutting-edge
semiconductor design and process capability and Samsung's
leadership in mobile handset creation. Each partner has invested
considerable resources, including capital, technology, personnel
and marketing.
"We have already successfully developed a TD-SDCMA test
terminal and feel that the time is right to accelerate the
availability of the first commercial products." commented
Mr. Zhou Huan, President of Datang Mobile. "We strongly
believe that our collaboration with Philips and Samsung, both
at the forefront of their respective fields, will accelerate
the commercialization of TD-SCDMA and thus contribute to the
development of the TD-SCDMA industry."
"This venture builds on Philips' longstanding commitment
to investing both technology and capital in China and its
strategy of delivering complete solutions for operators and
handset manufacturers." commented Thierry Laurent, executive
vice president business unit mobile communications at Philips
Semiconductors. "Our involvement in T3G will enable us
to deliver advanced chipsets compatible with most of the world's
3G networks."
Mr. Shin, Jong Kyun, Vice President of Mobile Communication
Division at Samsung added: "Samsung's participation as
a founding Partner clearly shows Samsung's commitment and
support to the Chinese Mobile Industry. China is the world's
largest market for mobile phones but there is still considerable
untapped demand. Through T3G's solution, Samsung plans to
introduce commercial handsets in 2004 that will help the TD-SCDMA
reach its full potential. By accelerating the time to market
for TD-SCDMA handsets we hope to help the standard reach a
critical mass of subscribers in record time"
Talking about the future development and business model of
T3G, Johan Pross, CEO of T3G commented that "T3G is an
autonomous company and the three venture partners will allow
the company to expand in the market independently. T3G will
also be in a position to form broad strategic alliances and
provide open access to the technology."
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