Ericsson and Telenor announce joint project to evaluate, test UMTS # WLAN integrated solution

Ericsson and Telenor announce joint project to evaluate, test UMTS - WLAN integrated solution Ericsson and Telenor have begun a joint project in Norway to evaluate and test the practical and commercial aspects of integrating Wireless LAN and UMTS as complementary radio access technologies. Seamlessly accessing WLAN in local areas will provide UMTS users with added capacity as they enter crowded hotspots such as airports or conference areas. The project, dubbed H2U, will focus on the technical and commercial aspects of connecting a HiperLAN2 network to the surrounding UMTS network with seamless mobility between the two. A merger of the two platforms combines the merits of both access technologies; UMTS for most environments and applications in wide area coverage and the greater bandwidth of HiperLAN2 for crowded hotspots. "A mobile operator will benefit significantly by having a WLAN-type platform added to the UMTS core network," said Ingvild Myhre, Managing Director at Telenor Mobil. "Combining the services of UMTS and the services of H2 will give the operator a service portfolio that is more valuable than either of the two individual sets alone." Among the early users to benefit from seamless, combined UMTS-WLAN capability will be those business users who have as a high priority the support of their "nomadic working" needs. They will be able to take maximum advantage of the higher bandwidth of WLAN in very crowded local environments to most effectively reach their office applications. "WLAN in combination with UMTS is a most interesting avenue of development in mobile communications," said Torbjörn Nilsson, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Strategic Business Development at Ericsson. "This cooperative project will advance the utilization of the synergies between WCDMA and HiperLAN2, with the ultimate result of a greater variety of services for the UMTS user." Ericsson is the leading communications supplier, combining innovation in mobility and Internet in creating the new era of mobile Internet. Ericsson provides total solutions covering everything from systems and applications to mobile phones and other communications tools. With presence in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for customers all over the world. Read more at http://www.ericsson.com/press FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT James Borup, Press Relations Manager, Division Mobile Systems Ericsson Corporate Communications Phone: +46 70 590 9261, E-mail: james.borup@lme.ericsson.se Per Eikeset, Director Strategy Planning and Business Development Ericsson (Norway) Phone: +47 6 684 2674, E-mail: per.eikeset@eto.ericsson.se Jo Heldaas, Information Manager, Telenor Mobil Phone: +47 22 7851 00, E-mail: jo.heldaas@telenor.com About Telenor Mobil: Telenor Mobil is a company within Telenor Mobile Communications (TMC) and is Norway's largest mobile operator. TMC has a customer base of 2.3 million (as of Dec. 31, 2000), and a turnover of NOK 9.1 billion in Norway. Telenor Mobil has 1,300 employees stationed in 20 different locations around the country. The company's aim is to be in the forefront when it comes to the development of new mobile communication services while remaining dedicated to the advancement of the mobile Internet through its portal, djuice.no. About HiperLAN2: HiperLAN2 is the next generation Wireless LAN standard, operating in the 5GHz frequency band, allowing data rates up to 54 Mbps. Ericsson engineers have built a radio covering the whole frequency range of 455 MHz that is available for HiperLAN2-compliant products in Europe. HiperLAN2 defines a Convergence Layer, offering backbone network independence by allowing for interoperability with not only Ethernet, but also with IEEE1394 Firewire and 3G mobile systems. Wireless LANs are today often used in enterprises as a wireless Ethernet extension, and this market is expected to grow significantly within the next few years as deployment of Wireless LANs moves into selected public areas, or so- called 'hot spots' such as hotels, airports etc. The increasing demand for bandwidth to support multimedia applications also makes HiperLAN2 a very strong candidate in wireless home networking, due to its unique capabilities to handle real-time multimedia over wireless. Laptops or PDAs using HiperLAN2 technology will become truly mobile, providing the user with untethered access to the corporate network, Internet or virtually any type of wireless network, offering seamless interoperation between these different network environments. For information about HiperLAN2 prototypes from Ericsson, visit: http://www.ericsson.com/press/20001211-0067.html For general information about Wireless LAN from Ericsson, visit: http://www.ericsson.com/enterprise/portfolio/wos/wos_wirelan.shtml and: http://www.ericsson.com/wlan/ For information on the HiperLan2 Global Forum, visit: http://www.hiperlan2.com/web/