Vodafone, China Mobile and Japanese carrier Softbank announced an agreement to establish a joint innovation lab to promote the development of new mobile technologies, applications and services. The partners expect the initiative will help to increase usage of mobile Internet services.

In a statement, the three carriers said they plan to use the joint venture “as a platform to develop mobile services and drive innovation and synergy in the industry.”

The lab will focus on projects based on emerging technologies and market demand. The companies said that initially, they plan to use the lab to develop a platform for mobile widgets.

The establishment of the lab is subject to regulatory approvals and certain customary closing conditions.

Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) today announced that the company has reached agreement with SOFTBANK Group for the deployment of a WiMAX (IEEE 802.16e-2005) trial network in Tokyo.

Motorola is supplying an end-to-end trial system including access points, an access network, and prototype WiMAX mobile handheld devices. The trial will enable SOFTBANK Group to assess the effectiveness of WiMAX as a wireless broadband technology, and its potential as an integrated part of SOFTBANK’s growing portfolio of telecommunications services.

SOFTBANK Group aims to offer seamless mobility to customers in Japan with its mobile communications, fixed-line telecommunications and fixed-line broadband services. The company acquired Vodafone K.K., which is the third largest mobile service operator in Japan, in April 2006. SOFTBANK Group currently has more than 26 million fixed-line and mobile communications customers in Japan.

Expected to begin in September 2006, the five-month trial will focus on performance of WiMAX in the 2.5GHz spectrum with regards to throughput and range, as well as the speed of network handovers between access points.

Motorola will be deploying five WiMAX access points and 25 prototype WiMAX mobile handheld devices. The trial will also showcase MIMO (multi-input, multi-output) capabilities of Motorola’s WiMAX solutions in supporting multi-antenna telecommunications systems as well as enabling greater data throughput and range. Motorola will also lend its wireless broadband expertise by providing technical support and consulting throughout the WiMAX trial.

Motorola is driving the development of WiMAX through collaborative agreements with other industry-leading companies, research and development, trials and deployments. The company recently won a nationwide contract to deploy a WiMAX 802.16e network in Pakistan.

“Forward-looking service providers today clearly see the potential of WiMAX as a viable and crucial wireless broadband technology to deploy seamless mobility services. As a pioneer in WiMAX, Motorola is committed to providing such innovative technology to fast growing telecommunications markets such as Japan,” said Dr. Simon Leung, regional president, Asia Pacific, Motorola.

“The SOFTBANK Group has been preparing to provide innovative new services to launch full-scale wireless broadband services and to realize a true ubiquitous society. We are confident that our new cooperation with Motorola, a company capable of providing optimal solution proposals for the demonstration of WiMAX, will enable us to further improve communication technologies and to take another big step toward commercialization.” said Junichi Miyakawa, executive officer, executive vice president, Vodafone K.K.

MOTOwi4™ is a portfolio of wireless broadband solutions and services that creates, complements and completes IP networks. Delivering coverage to virtually all spaces, MOTOwi4 includes wi4 WiMAX, wi4 Fixed Broadband, wi4 Mesh, and wi4 Broadband over Power Line solutions for private and public networks. For more information about Motorola’s MOTOwi4 solutions, please visit: www.motorola.com/wi4

Vodafone and Softbank today announce an agreement to form a partnership to conduct joint development and procurement of mobile technology and content.

The proposed partnership intends to harness the mobile and Internet expertise and assets of Vodafone and Softbank in Japan to develop hardware and software for the mobile Internet. The partnership will initially focus on three key development areas:

1. Handset Development and Procurement
The partnership will work with manufacturers to develop and procure technically advanced handsets which can be manufactured at low cost.

2. Service Platforms and Mobile Portals
The partnership will develop software that will enhance the customer experience by providing a much richer user interface through mobile portals.

3. Content
Vodafone and Softbank will work together sourcing content which will be developed and aggregated to take advantage of the partnership proposed advanced handset technology.

Based on successful development in the above areas, the partnership will also potentially consider expansion into other areas.

Under the agreement, Japan will be the centre of development activity between the joint venture partners. Both companies will have equal ownership of the partnership.

It is envisaged that technology developed under the partnership will be centrally sourced and made available to Vodafone and Softbank group companies as well as other companies under licence.

The formation of the partnership is conditional upon regulatory approvals and agreement by the parties of definitive documentation.

Arun Sarin, Chief Executive, Vodafone, commented:

“I’m pleased to be able to announce our agreement with Softbank today. As we stated at the time of our sale of Vodafone KK to Softbank in March, we intend to continue our relationship with Softbank, one of the leading telecommunications and media companies in Japan, to benefit from insights into the Japanese market. By working together, we will be able to develop new mobile technologies and content for the benefit of our customers, as well as offering our developments under licence.”

Masayoshi Son, CEO and President of the Softbank Corp., commented:

“For Softbank, working with Vodafone is a great opportunity to accelerate innovation both in terms of new technologies and customer-centric services. Vodafone’s size and experience in mobile together with Softbank?s converged media and Internet know-how will certainly be a strong combination for driving industry-wide change in the fundamental structure of how mobile services are delivered worldwide.”

“Following on from the Vodafone KK transaction, Vodafone and Softbank continue to work together in the true spirit of partnership. Together, we see this effort as a means of significantly driving down the cost of supplying best-in-class services to a very broad base of customers, not only in terms of initial costs, but as we plan to develop more flexible service platforms, this will allow for a richer customer experience at a lower ongoing cost.”