London and Tokyo, September 20th, 2005-- NEC today announced
that it has supplied the Mobile Internet Platform for O2 plc (O2)’s
forthcoming i-modeTM service. O2’s i-mode operations are scheduled
to start this autumn in the UK and Ireland. "We are pleased with
NEC as the provider of our i-mode platform, which we believe will
offer our customers a whole range of new data services when we
launch - furthering O2’s data services leadership position in our
markets… …”, said Dave Williams, Group CTO of O2.
The expansion of high value, rich-media mobile Internet services
in Europe continues to advance with services now becoming simpler
to deliver and use. Kenji Takano, Managing Director of NEC Europe
said, "NEC is forging strategic relationships with mobile operators
and is reinforcing its mobile business to create new business
opportunities for operators in Europe and in other regions of the
world through increased mobile usage. In order to contribute to the
development of new mobile services, NEC is rolling out attractive
i-mode services with the service platform."
O2 is one of Europe’s leading mobile phone operators, currently
serving nearly 25 million subscribers in the UK, Ireland and
Germany. Currently, 26% of O2’s revenues are generated by data
services.
*NEC’s i-mode platform
NEC’s highly reliable Mobile Internet Platform (NEMIP) is an
integrated solution that unifies operations and service management.
At the core of the solution is a gateway that will enable O2’s
customers to gain easy, quick and secure access to the large
variety of rich content offered by O2’s i-mode service. A special
mail component enables customers to enjoy i-mode mail services with
video and picture attachments. This service is easy to activate and
fully interoperable with MMS and email across different networks. A
NEMIP portal component generates service menus and membership
content menus for each connected mobile terminal.
The platform offers complete management of user information,
content and services information, agent charging and billing
(including real-time charging for pre-paid users) and flexible
support for new features as the platform grows. To provide
attractive Mobile Internet services for both 2.5 and 3G, NEC is to
expand their Mobile Multimedia Platform business, targeting
operators worldwide who wish to enhance customer satisfaction and
increase revenue. NEC plans to add to their Mobile Applications
line-up and aspires to gaining the leading position in the Mobile
Internet market. As a total solution provider for Mobile Internet
solutions, NEC has strong competence in mobile infrastructure
systems, mobile application platforms for i-mode and WAP and an
impressive portfolio of content and attractive mobile handsets.
Worldwide, NEC's Mobile Internet Platforms and terminals are
employed by Wind Telecomunicazioni S.p.A. (Italy), Telefonica
Moviles Espana (Spain), Bouygues Telecom S.A. (France), COSMOTE
Mobile Telecommunications S.A. (Greece), Mobile TeleSystems OJSC
(Russia), Telstra Corporation Limited (Australia) and Far EasTone
Telecommunications Co., Ltd. (Taiwan). In addition, handsets are
employed in E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), KPN
Mobile The Netherlands B.V. (the Netherlands), BASE N.V./S.A.
(Belgium).
-End-
About O2
O2 plc has 100% ownership of mobile network operators in three
countries – the UK, Germany and Ireland – as well as a leading
mobile Internet portal business. All of these businesses are
branded as ‘O2’. The company is a founding member of Starmap Mobile
Alliance, has operations on the Isle of Man (Manx Telecom) and owns
O2 Airwave – an advanced, digital emergency communications service.
In addition, O2 has established the Tesco Mobile and Tchibo
Mobilfunk joint venture businesses in the UK and Germany
respectively.
O2 has nearly 25 million customers and some 15,000 employees. It
reported revenues for the year ended 31 March 2005 of £6.683
billion. Data represented 26% of total service revenues in the
quarter ending 30 June 2005.
About NEC’s Value Added Services business
NEC is a total mobile solutions provider capable of providing
solutions from mobile handsets to infrastructure and mobile
applications. NEC has been actively expanding its sales in mobile
applications, infrastructure and handsets globally. The firm has a
proven track record of delivering platforms for implementing mobile
internet services such as i-mode/WAP2.0, along with location
information systems, streaming servers, digital rights protection,
contents conversion software, mail servers and many more. NEC is
also working on the next generation of converged services such as
3G / WLAN mobility, Mobile TV and 3G Service Creation and
Management.
About NEC's Global Mobile Business
NEC is a total solution provider for 3G and mobile Internet. It
has been involved in every first-stage rollout of 3G systems
worldwide. It is also responsible for developing the first 3G
handsets for the world's first 3G networks. NEC has competence in
the mobile Internet field with its mobile infrastructure system,
mobile application platform and its impressive portfolio of
contents. NEC's mobile handsets are known for their prominent
technologies including large color screens, built-in cameras and
other functions that make them ideal for use in the mobile
Internet. In the 3G/mobile multimedia global, NEC aims to take
strong initiative to create the market and to obtain leading
position.
About NEC Corporation
NEC Corporation (NASDAQ: NIPNY) (FTSE: 6701q.l) is one of the
world's leading providers of Internet, broadband network and
enterprise business solutions dedicated to meeting the specialized
needs of its diverse and global base of customers. Ranked as one of
the world's top patent-producing companies, NEC delivers tailored
solutions in the key fields of computer, networking and electron
devices, by integrating its technical strengths in IT and Networks,
and by providing advanced semiconductor solutions through NEC
Electronics Corporation. The NEC Group employs more than 140,000
people worldwide and had net sales of 4,855 billion yen (approx.
$45 billion) in the fiscal year ended March 2005. For additional
information, please visit the NEC home page at:
http://www.nec.com
* i-mode is trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo,
Inc. in Japan and other countries.
* DoJa is a trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other
countries.
MEDIA Contact:
Akiko Shikimori
NEC Corporation
Tel: +81 3 3798 6511
e-mail: a-shikimori@ay.jp.nec.com
Chris Shimizu
NEC Europe Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)20 8752 2794
e-mail: chris.shimizu@uk.neceur.com
Geoff Devlin
NEC UK Ltd.
Tel: +44 (0)7747 606648
e-mail: geoff.devlin@uk.neceur.com