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Article:
Japanese technology giant Toshiba said Thursday that it will open a cellular-phone technology research laboratory in the United Kingdom next month that will initially develop multimedia applications for next-generation cellular phones. The facility, based in Bristol in western England, will develop cellular-phone products based on the European-led next-generation cellular-transmission standard, the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System. Toshiba's Telecommunications Research Laboratory will have an initial capitalization of 432,000 pounds ($710,000) and a 10 million pound ($16 million) R&D budget over five years. The Bristol facility will be the company's second research facility in the United Kingdom -- the other being an advanced semiconductor research center in Cambridge, England. The decision to open the facility in Europe reflects the company's commitment to the new European-led standard, said Ken Murakami, communications manager at Toshiba Europe, in London. "In Europe the telecom technology is very advanced. To develop telecom software and access technology, we think Europe is best," he said. Toshiba (company profile) has chosen to develop products based on the new standard because it has been accepted in both Europe and Japan, said Murakami. This is also the reason why this type of facility couldn't yet be opened in the United States, he said. Initially the facility will develop cellular-phone software for next-generation mobile communications, said Murakami. The new standard is much more advanced than the Global System for Mobile Communications standard -- the most widely used cellular standard in Europe -- he said. "The density of transmission possible is much higher," with the new standard, said Murakami. "This enables you to transmit lots of data, even moving data, so you can have wireless multimedia communications," he said. The lab will initially have five or six staff members, and will increase to about 20 staff by 2001 Toshiba said. The facility will be headed by Joseph McGeehan, professor of communications engineering at the University of Bristol. The universal standard, which enables high-speed wireless communications to mobile devices, was approved in January for use in Europe by the European Telecom Standards Institute. The standard incorporates elements of wideband Code Division Multiple Access, another advanced cellular standard being developed jointly with European mobile-technology vendors Nokia and Ericsson and being tested in Japan. In March, another Japanese technology giant, NEC, formed a joint venture with a little-known British R&D company, ERA Technology, to manufacture equipment for next-generation wireless multimedia communications in Europe, again using the universal standard. be used globally, except for the Sahara and polar locations. |