HONG KONG, April 24 /Xinhua-PRNewswire/ -- China Mobile Limited, SOFTBANK and Vodafone have agreed to establish a Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) to promote the development of new mobile technologies, applications and services. The three companies expect the initiative will help to accelerate the commercial deployment of mobile internet services.
(Photo: http://www.prnasia.com/sa/200804241933.jpg )
The three companies will use the JIL as a platform to develop mobile services and drive innovation and synergy in the industry to the benefit of their combined global customer base. The JIL will launch projects based on emerging technologies and market demand.
The JIL will focus on the rapidly growing areas of mobile internet services, such as mobile widgets*. Initially, the JIL plans to develop a platform for mobile widgets to encourage the development of innovative new services that can leverage mobile operators' unique capabilities. The JIL also welcomes the co-operation of vendors and developers in the creation of new applications and services.
This move is expected to enable different widgets and applications to run seamlessly on different handset platforms and operating systems across different mobile operators, while safeguarding customer security, data privacy and billing systems. The development of a widget platform is expected to benefit both developers and users.
The establishment of the JIL and completion is subject to regulatory approvals and certain customary closing conditions.
* NOTE: A widget is a highly functional, small, web-based application
that gives customers access to useful services.
About China Mobile Limited
China Mobile Limited is the world's largest mobile operator with more than 392 million subscribes (as of March 31, 2008). China Mobile Limited has been a leading player in the mobile communications industry. In 10 years, China Mobile Limited has established a world class mobile network with over 300,000 base stations, providing premium coverage and customer services. It ranks the first in the world in terms of network scale and subscriber base. For more information, please visit http://www.chinamobileltd.com .
About SOFTBANK
SOFTBANK GROUP offers its customers a range of services including mobile communications, broadband infrastructure, fixed-line telecommunications, internet culture, e-Commerce, and others. SOFTBANK MOBILE achieved the No. 1 position in net additions for FY 2007 in Japanese market, with a total of 18,586,200 subscribers as of March 2008. For more information, please visit http://www.softbank.co.jp .
About Vodafone
Vodafone is the world's leading international mobile communications group with over 252 million proportionate customers as at 31st December 2007. Vodafone currently has equity interests in 25 countries across five continents and a further 41 partner networks worldwide. For more information, please visit http://www.vodafone.com .
For media enquiries please contact:
China Mobile Limited:
Tel: +86-10-6600-6688
Email: lijun@chinamobile.com
SOFTBANK Public Relations:
Tel: +81-3-6889-2300
Email: pr@softbank.co.jp
Vodafone Group Media Relations:
Tel: +44-1635-664444
