NEC & WIND Collaborate on Assisted GPS Commercial Trials

via ACN Newswire) - Rome and Tokyo, Japan, Feb 6, 2006 - (JCN Newswire) - NEC Corporation today announced that it has been collaborating on joint field trials for SUPL-based Assisted GPS location services with WIND, Italy's leading mobile operator.

Following two trials in May and September last year, the companies are please to announce the successful attainment of the high levels of performance and accuracy, required to offer the next generation of location based services.

WIND successfully tested the accuracy and performance of the NEC solution at 15 locations around Italy with varying environmental conditions and topographies, both inside and outside, using A-GPS enables mobile phones.

The NEC system on trial is a Secure User Plane for Location (SUPL)-based system. SUPL is a standards-based interface, specified by the Open Mobile Alliance(TM) that enables a mobile phone to communicate with a location server in a network agnostic way, reducing deployment costs and simplifying service roaming.
The NEC A-GPS over IP platform is a complete solution allowing mobile operators to rapidly deploy various location-based services (LBS) that benefit from higher location accuracy. The solution uses A-GPS technology to enable highly accurate positioning of a mobile device

In A-GPS positioning, the service uses both an A-GPS chipset in the handset and a position calculation engine at the mobile operator or service provider, to determine the mobile device's location. An A-GPS chipset can be embedded within a mobile handset with little impact on form factor or battery life, unlike traditional GPS receivers in handheld devices.

NEC is a pioneer in A-GPS solutions and boasts a wealth of experience in developing location-based service systems for not only Japanese operators but also operators worldwide. NEC has made a valuable contribution to consumer location-based services in some of the world's leading mobile carriers, proving its competence in this field.

The system allows for positioning data management with high levels of reliability and privacy control, incorporating user-specified preferences. In conjunction with content delivery servers and Internet gateways, the NEC A-GPS over IP Solution enables diverse location based services. The solution supports Mobile Location Protocol, a standard interface with ASP/CP, making it easy for ASP and CP to develop a wide range of location service choices.

The A-GPS technology offers positioning accuracy superior to most other positioning techniques. Outdoors the NEC A-GPS over IP Solution works in conjunction with GPS satellites to accomplish highly accurate positioning. In indoor applications, it automatically falls back on the cell-based positioning technology as needed. Using these technologies in combination realizes an optimum positioning solution that minimizes `grey zones' where positioning is not available.


About NEC's Enriched Mobile Life Solutions

NEC's solutions for a better mobile lifestyle underpin the rich media delivery, voice and contextual service portfolios of leading mobile network operators around the world. A quicker time to live service, lower implementation risk and an annually evolving integrated product line, mean our customers become our partners as they rely on us to protect their market advantage.

NEC will exhibit its latest Mobile Solutions at this year's 3GSM World Congress in Barcelona, Spain, being held from February 13 - 16, 2006, showcasing the products behind its leading position in the global 3G and mobile internet market. At this year's 3GSM World Congress, NEC will unveil a selection of integrated products and services that show how NEC is adding value today to its customers by providing end-to-end solutions. NEC's booth illustrates network evolution, service solutions, customer value chain solutions, a product portfolio of network infrastructure and value added services, mobile handsets and semiconductor solutions.

For more information regarding NEC's activities at 3GSM, please visit:
http://www.nec-3gsm.com


About WIND Telecomunicazioni S.p.A.

Established in 1997, WIND is the leading Italian operator offering integrated fixed, internet and mobile telecommunications solutions.

WIND manages Europe's most extensive TLC network run by a non-incumbent operator. WIND covers more than 98,9 percent of the Italian population with its mobile network, offers fixed telephony and internet services over the entire national territory and has a more than 18,000 kilometres long fibre optic backbone.

WIND is the leading non incumbent operator on the Italian fixed telephony market, runs Italy's most successful internet Portal (Italia On Line) and is the Italian largest Internet Service Provider (ISP). WIND is also Italy's 3rd largest mobile operator, with a 16 percent market share gained in just three years from launce of its mobile service.



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