Ericsson and Scania to co-operate on wireless Internet solutions for the transport industry
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Date: Wednesday, August 18 1999
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
H†kan 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.
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 Nordstr”m, 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: 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 wapforum.org.
Ericsson's Mobile Internet portal is: mobile.ericsson.se
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.
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For more info on Positioning, see exchange2000.com
Mardy.
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