GSM and 3G Hook-UP

The GSM Association, the world's leading wireless industry representative body and 3G Americas, a new wireless organization formed to unify the Americas through wireless technology - both representing the GSM family of wireless communications --jointly announced today their collaborative partnership. Executives from each organization signed a memorandum of understanding outlining continued cooperation between the two organizations to further insure the success of the GSM family of evolutionary technologies as the world's technology choice for next generation wireless services.

Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association ( inset above ), defined the agreement as "an opportunity to work collaboratively to further the definition, and standardization of prioritized requirements with global and regional standards bodies, for the deployment of commercial products and services in a timely fashion." Conway continued, "In addition, 3G Americas and the GSM Association will work collaboratively on a variety of regulatory issues and promotional opportunities to support the GSM family of wireless communications as well as share information to help ensure consistency and global interoperability for voice and data services."

"The GSM Association and 3G Americas share a common goal for GSM evolution," stated Chris Pearson, Executive Vice President of 3G Americas, "and we will share technical documentation, white papers, and other pertinent materials and promotional opportunities as we work together for the seamless advancement of the GSM family of wireless technologies in the Americas and throughout the world."

GSM is the world's leading wireless standard, with 550 networks in over 184 countries, representing over 750 million customers throughout the world today. GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) is the leading, next generation packet-based service for wireless data and is deployed in over 200 networks worldwide to date.

Pearson continued, "This agreement is significant as it highlights the importance of GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and UMTS (WCDMA) for the Americas region. We continue to see operators in the region select the GSM family of technologies and join their operator counterparts in Europe, Asia, Middle East, and Africa whom have already established GSM as the worldwide leader."