Ericsson and Scania to co-operate on wireless Internet solutions

Ericsson and Scania to co-operate on wireless Internet solutions for the transport industry Ericsson and vehicle manufacturer Scania are to co-operate on the development of wireless Internet solutions tailored to the needs of the transport industry. With its expertise in wireless datacom and telecom, and the application of new communications technologies like WAP, Bluetooth, packet-switching with GPRS, and GSM Positioning, Ericsson will provide end-to-end solutions optimized for mobile users. Scania, through its newly formed IT subsidiary Infotronics, will integrate the new features in their products and put them on the market. "The IT-based communications properties of a vehicle will soon be at least as important as, for example, it's cargo capacity or fuel consumption," says Håkan Samuelsson, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at Scania. "We will introduce IT systems and features wherever they produce tangible customer benefits, promote operating economy and uptime, reduce environmental impact or promote road safety." The global market for so-called Intelligent Transport Services (ITS) will be as much as USD 400 billion within 15 years, experts predict. The market for fleet management and positioning services, sized at USD 200 million in 1998, is expected to grow to USD 1.2 billion already by the year 2002. "The transport industry is a dynamic and very interesting market for Ericsson, with extensive needs for efficient wireless Internet communications," says Jan Lindgren, Vice President and General Manager for Wireless Internet Solutions at Ericsson. "Ericsson has already developed a wide range of wireless Internet applications in different areas. Now, together with Scania, we will be creating the wireless Internet solutions that will integrate enhanced functionality into vehicles." Ericsson is the leading provider in the new telecoms world, with communications solutions that combine telecom and datacom technologies with freedom of mobility for the user. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for its customers - network operators, service providers, enterprises and consumers - the world over. Please visit Ericsson's Press Room at: http://www.ericsson.se/pressroom FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT Johan Wiklund, Ericsson Corporate Communications Phone: +46 70 560 0134; E-mail: johan.wiklund@era.ericsson.se Johan Eliason, Business Development, Ericsson Radio Systems Phone: +46 8 585 344 01; E-mail: johan.eliason@era.ericsson.se Peter Gillbrand, Scania Infotronics Phone: +46 70 822 5969; E-mail: peter.gillbrand@scania.com Per-Erik Nordström, Scania Corporate Communications Phone: +46 70 553 55 77; E-mail: per-erik.nordstrom@scania.com Company Information: Scania is one of the world's leading manufacturers of trucks and buses for heavy transport applications, and of industrial and marine engines. With 23,600 employees and production facilities in Europe and Latin America, Scania is one of the most profitable companies in its sector. In 1998, turnover totalled SEK 45,300 million and income after financial items SEK 3,200 million. Scania products are marketed in about 100 countries worldwide and approximately 96 percent of total production is sold outside Sweden. Read more at: http://www.scania.com Additional Information: About Wireless Internet Ericsson aims to be the leading innovative wireless Internet solutions supplier, making end-to-end wireless Internet solutions secure, smart and swift. Ericsson is actively developing wireless Internet applications and services for banking and finance, media and entertainment, travel and transport, retail and services, and the virtual office. About WAP Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is the main worldwide industry standard for providing Internet communications and advanced services on digital mobile phones, pagers, Personal Digital Assistants and other wireless terminals. WAP is compatible with all mobile standards, including CDMA, GSM, PDC and TDMA, as well as 3G systems. Ericsson, together with Nokia and Motorola, has introduced a new initiative to simplify recognition of mobile Internet applications. The Mobile Media Mode (WWW:MMM) will enable users, content providers and operators to recognize services, Internet sites and devices such as smart phones which provide access to these services. More information about WAP is available at http://www.wapforum.org. Ericsson's Mobile Internet portal is: http://mobile.ericsson.se/mobileinternet About Bluetooth Bluetooth is a global initiative pioneered by Ericsson, IBM, Intel, Nokia and Toshiba to set a standard for cable-free connectivity between mobile phones, mobile PCs, handheld computers and other peripherals. It will use short-range radio links in the 2.45 GHz Instrumentation, Scientific and Medical (ISM) "free band". The Bluetooth Special Interest Group today has over 600 affiliated IT and telecom companies, including Motorola, Lucent, Qualcomm, 3Com, and VLSI. About GPRS General Packet Radio Service. An enhancement of the GSM core network that introduces packet data transmission. It makes very efficient use of available radio spectrum, and users get more access bandwidth than over a standard connection. GPRS can also be applied to TDMA (ANSI-136) networks. GPRS is a common step for TDMA and GSM to handle higher data speeds and offer 3G packet capabilities. Ericsson's GPRS system is an open standard solution, enabling multi-operator and vendor interoperability. About GSM Positioning The Ericsson Mobile Positioning System (MPS) is a server-based solution that allows positioning services to be introduced into any GSM network that has Ericsson switching systems. The system will work with any GSM-standard radio network and all existing GSM phones. An Application Programming Interface (API) will be available to allow the development of custom applications.