China
Unicom and QUALCOMM announced that they have signed a definitive agreement
under which China Unicom will commercially launch over its CDMA network
a new wireless application service based on QUALCOMM's Binary Runtime
Environment for Wireless (BREW) solution by the end of 2002. China Unicom's
wireless customers will be able to personalize their BREW-enabled mobile
phones by downloading the applications they want and need using the
BREW platform. Separately, China Unicom and QUALCOMM have also made
plans to establish a joint venture in China to foster a domestic BREW
developer community and manage the BREW applications produced by this
development community.
China
Unicom is planning to introduce the service to some customers by the
fourth quarter of 2002, enabling the company to clearly demonstrate
to Chinese
mobile consumers the advantages of its CDMA services. Customers will
be able
to choose from numerous categories of wireless data applications, such
as
games and entertainment, business applications and navigation services,
weather and news, chat and e-commerce.
"QUALCOMM developed the BREW solution to open the wireless economy
and to
create a dynamic and useful mobile data experience for consumers worldwide,"
said Dr. Paul E. Jacobs, group president, QUALCOMM Wireless & Internet
Group.
"China Unicom's leadership will give Chinese mobile consumers an
unprecedented
opportunity to tap into the power of wireless data and it will enhance
business opportunities worldwide for the rapidly growing community of
BREW
developers and content providers in China."
Deployments of the BREW solution continue as carriers throughout the
world
join KTF in South Korea, KDDI in Japan and Verizon Wireless in the United
States in commercializing BREW-based services. Telesp Celular, the largest
mobile phone operator in Brazil, has launched a BREW user trial. ALLTEL,
with
more than 10 million customers in the United States, has also launched
its
BREW-based service in three U.S. cities. Globally, 16 carriers to-date
have
indicated support for the BREW solution and developers and handset
manufacturers continue to embrace the platform.