BERLIN-Siemens AG and NEC Corp. announced a joint venture to develop infrastructure equipment for third-generation systems. The joint venture, in which Siemens will hold 51 percent and NEC will hold 49 percent, is called Mobisphere Ltd.
The Reading, United Kingdom-based venture will conduct research and development in Universal Mobile Telecommunications System infrastructure, said the companies. The companies will continue to separately develop and market terminals.
Sales of the UMTS systems are expected to begin in 2001, and the companies predict they each will hold 20 percent of the global UMTS radio system market.
Siemens has expertise in the time division duplex mode of UMTS, while NEC has a strong frequency division duplex knowledge, the companies said.
Hans Krafka, who has held various senior-management positions in Siemens’ telecom division, will serve as managing director of Mobisphere. Engineering staff from both companies will form the core of Mobisphere’s 80 employees.
“The NEC-Siemens alliance will offer a timely introduction of next-generation systems, with features that deliver performance and reliability in a cost-effective manner,” said Koji Nishigaki, NEC president.
