Symbian expands into Scandinavia with acquisition of Mobile Application Lab
Symbian expands into Scandinavia with acquisition of Ericsson Mobile Applications Lab Ericsson and Symbian today announced the acquisition by Symbian of Mobile Applications Lab, based in Ronneby, Sweden, a subsidiary of Ericsson Mobile Communications. The addition of the Ronneby centre takes place under the original agreement of the Symbian joint venture when it was agreed that each shareholder would contribute key personnel to aid the development of Symbian's EPOC operating system. The entire staff at the Ronneby site will be transferred to Symbian, who will develop the location into an EPOC development centre, building on existing experience in implementing telecommunications, Bluetooth and user interface technology. The Mobile Applications Lab was set up in 1997 by Ericsson Mobile Communications and is situated in Ronneby's Soft Center industrial park, renowned for excellence in software development. Juha Christensen, Executive Vice President of Marketing and Sales, Symbian, comments "The addition of the teams in Ronneby to the Symbian group is a further boost to our recruitment efforts. With this we gain experienced staff who will further develop key EPOC technologies. Since the launch of Symbian six months ago we've seen an increase in headcount by approximately 70%. We plan to expand our reach in the Wireless Information Device industry further by opening up additional offices worldwide during the next six months. " Jan Ahrenbring, Vice President of Marketing and Communication at Ericsson Mobile Communications says: "Taking a leading role in industry initiatives such as Bluetooth, Symbian and WAP is an important part of Ericsson's strategy which will ensure us a strong position in the new telecomm's world. By this deal we further strengthen the relation between Symbian and Ericsson. Working with open standards enables us to offer consumers easy to use communications solutions." The transfer of the Ronneby offices heralds Symbian's presence in Scandinavia. Based in the southernmost tip of Sweden, Ronneby is a two hour drive from the Copenhagen-Malmö area. Symbian will initially transfer experienced staff members to Ronneby and from this office seek to develop closer links with technology companies and research centres throughout Scandinavia, a region generally perceived to be two to three years ahead of the rest of the world in wireless technology usage, mobile phone penetration and adoption of new technology. Symbian has already developed a close relationship with the University of Karlskrona/Ronneby, one of Sweden's leading IT institutions with the second highest number new IT students in the country Per Ericsson, President for the University of Karlskrona/Ronneby, comments "We welcome Symbian to Ronneby and to close cooperation with the university; developing links with IT students and joint R&D projects. The acquisition by Symbian of Mobile Applications Lab in Ronneby's Soft Center is a huge step forward to world leading software development and will provide further employment opportunities within the region." Symbian plans to develop the Ronneby site by developing a new complex within the same site as the University, to create closer links with IT students, and increasing recruitment in the region. 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 Paul Cockerton, Symbian Phone: +44 171 208 1800 E-mail: paul.cockerton@symbian.com Jan Ahrenbring, Marketing and Communications Director Ericsson Mobile Communications Phone: +46 8 764 14 60 E-mail: jan.ahrenbring@ecs.ericsson.se About Symbian Ltd. Symbian licenses, develops and supports the EPOC operating system - providing leading software, user interfaces, application frameworks and development tools for Wireless Information Devices such as Communicators and Smartphones. Symbian aims to promote standards for the interoperation of Wireless Information Devices with wireless networks, content services, messaging and enterprise wide solutions. With headquarters in London, and offices in Kanazawa, Japan and the San Francisco Bay Area, Symbian is owned by Psion, Ericsson, Motorola and Nokia. Symbian's website can be found at www.symbian.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/01/14/19990114BIT00100/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/01/14/19990114BIT00100/bit0002.pdf