Axalto, Gemplus, Hewlett Packard, Nokia and QUALCOMM are latest technology associate members to join the alliance. Total membership base increased from eleven to sixteen members.
Singapore - Bridge Mobile Alliance, Asia Pacific's largest mobile alliance group had announced the joining of five more global technology powerhouses as technology associate members to the alliance. They are - Axalto, Gemplus, Hewlett Packard, Nokia and QUALCOMM. It was just two months ago that the alliance had announced the launch of its Associate Membership scheme where Ericsson, Motorola and ZTE were amongst the first three global technology companies who joined on 17 August 2005. The Associate Membership scheme had gained significant momentum in the mobile industry in attracting key players, bringing the alliance membership base from eleven to sixteen members.
The Associate Membership scheme aims to foster closer collaboration between member operators and technology players across the mobile service development value chain. The intent is to create an ecosystem that would accelerate the development of leading edge mobile technologies that are unique and relevant to the Asian mobile markets.
Dr Patrick Sim, Chief Executive Officer, Bridge Mobile, said, "We are very excited to have world renowned technology players such as Axalto, Gemplus, Hewlett Packard, Nokia and QUALCOMM coming on board the Bridge Mobile Alliance family. They are all market leaders in their respective domains, and would bring to the alliance a diversity of expertise and invaluable market knowledge. Our membership consists of the region's leading mobile operators, as well as major global players with technology leadership across the mobile industry value chain, such as handsets, network and platform solutions, and SIM card technologies."
Tan Teck Lee, President, Axalto Asia, said, "Axalto is very proud to join Bridge Mobile Alliance as a technology associate member. We share the alliance's vision to enable personal, secure and convenient solutions to end-user customers across Asia. As the world's number one provider of microprocessor cards and mobile communications cards, we look forward to working more closely with regional operators to develop solutions that offer a more seamless and integrated service offering across the region."
Dr Martin McCourt, President Gemplus Asia, said, "As the world's number one supplier of 3G USIM cards and a leader in secure platforms and services, Gemplus welcomes this opportunity to work in partnership with the members of the Bridge Mobile Alliance to deliver seamless services across borders and develop multi-media experiences tailored towards each subscriber's needs in Asia Pacific."
Hitoshi Nishizawa, Vice President & General Manager, Hewlett Packard Asia Pacific, said, "Bridge Mobile Alliance shares the same vision and commitment as HP to deliver quality mobile services to operators and their consumers. This partnership further reinforces our commitment towards creating consistent mobile services delivery standards across the world. The alliance's Associate Membership scheme enhances HP's efforts to bring operators and the community of independent software vendors (ISVs), developers and content providers together."
John Stefanac, Vice-President, Networks, Asia Pacific, Nokia, said, "Being able to differentiate oneself and providing consumers with unique applications, superior products and services are key success factors in today's competitive mobile world. To this end, as a true end-to-end mobility solutions provider, Nokia has a proven track record and the capabilities to help operators and service providers in the Bridge Mobile Alliance offer their customers a unique and richer user experience."
Ted Matsumoto, Chairman, QUALCOMM South East Asia/Pacific and Japan, and Senior VP, and Chairman of Global Strategic Development Council, QUALCOMM Incorporated, San Diego, said, "QUALCOMM is delighted to be a technology partner of the Bridge Mobile Alliance. QUALCOMM has consistently maintained an active role in developing next-generation mobile technologies that are customized for the Asia Pacific mobile markets and will contribute actively with the same strategic focus in this alliance. QUALCOMM is pleased to align with the many industry leaders that comprise Bridge Mobile Alliance to drive the development of advanced mobile technologies in Asia Pacific."
With such stellar membership, the alliance is well positioned to harness the collaborative synergies across the whole spectrum of differentiating regional mobile service offerings, such as mobile gaming and music, mobile commerce and 3G services, and deliver a truly seamless experience to our combined base of over 70 million customers.
About Bridge Mobile Alliance
Established in November 2004, Bridge Mobile Alliance is Asia Pacific's largest mobile alliance group. The alliance is a current partnership of eight leading mobile operators in Asia Pacific, namely, Airtel (India), CSL (Hong Kong), Globe Telecom (Philippines), Maxis (Malaysia), SingTel Mobile (Singapore), SingTel Optus (Australia), Taiwan Mobile (Taiwan) and Telkomsel (Indonesia). Bridge Mobile Alliance operates through a Singapore-incorporated joint venture company, Bridge Mobile Pte Ltd.
Bridge Mobile Alliance offers significant commercial benefits and economies of scale to alliance members. Through close collaboration, alliance members can leverage on collective capabilities and best practices to develop relevant, cutting-edge mobile technologies for the Asia Pacific market.
Bridge Mobile Alliance will invest up to US$40 million over the next three years to build and establish a shared regional mobile infrastructure, and to deliver a wider suite of regional mobile services. More importantly, Bridge Mobile Alliance is focused on creating a consistent delivery of mobile services across the region, thereby offering customers a seamless experience beyond borders.
About Axalto
Axalto (Euronext: NL0000400653 - AXL) is the world's leading provider of microprocessor cards (Gartner 2005, Frost & Sullivan 2004) the key to digital networks and a major supplier of point-of-sale terminals. Its 4500 employees come from over 65 nationalities and serve customers in more than 100 countries, with worldwide sales reaching 3 billion smart cards to date. The company has 25 years' experience in smart card innovation and leads its industry in security technology and open systems.
Axalto continuously creates new generations of products for use in a variety of applications in the telecommunications, finance, retail, transport, entertainment, healthcare, personal identification, information technology and public sector markets. Microprocessor cards provide convenience, security and privacy to public and private services operators, their customers and end users. For more information, visit us at www.axalto.com.
About Gemplus
Gemplus International S.A. (Euronext: LU0121706294 - GEM and NASDAQ: GEMP) is the world's leading player in the smart card industry in both revenue and total shipments (source: Gartner-Dataquest (2004), Frost & Sullivan, Datamonitor). It has sold over 5 billion smart cards.
With security at its core, and 2400 patents and patent applications produced by its innovative R&D team, Gemplus delivers a wide range of portable, personalized solutions in areas including Identity, Mobile Telecommunications, Public Telephony, Banking, Retail, Transport, Healthcare, WLAN, Pay-TV, e-government, and access control.
Gemplus' revenue in 2004 was 865 million Euros.
For more information, visit us at www.gemplus.com.
About HP
HP is a technology solutions provider to consumers, businesses and institutions globally. The company's offerings span IT infrastructure, global services, business and home computing, and imaging and printing. For the four fiscal quarters ended July 31, 2005, HP revenue totaled $85.2 billion. More information about HP (NYSE, Nasdaq: HPQ) is available at www.hp.com.
About QUALCOMM
QUALCOMM Incorporated (www.qualcomm.com) is a leader in developing and delivering innovative digital wireless communications products and services based on the Company's CDMA digital technology. Headquartered in San Diego, Calif., QUALCOMM is included in the S&P 500 Index and is a 2005 FORTUNE 500® company traded on The Nasdaq Stock Market® under the ticker symbol QCOM.
About Nokia
Nokia is a world leader in mobile communications, driving the growth and sustainability of the broader mobility industry. Nokia connects people to each other and the information that matters to them with easy-to-use and innovative products like mobile phones, devices and solutions for imaging, games, media and businesses. Nokia provides equipment, solutions and services for network operators and corporations. www.nokia.com
Media Enquiries:
Bridge Mobile
Linda Loh, Marketing Manager
Tel: +65 6424 6294
Email: Linda.loh@bridgemobile.com
Axalto
Joyce Lau, Marketing Communications Manager, Asia
Tel: +65 6836 3618 / +65 9770 7663
Email: jlau@axalto.com
Gemplus
Ho Sin Huay, Senior Account Executive, Edelman
Tel: +65 6733 1110
Email: sinhuay.ho@edelman.com
Hewlett Packard Asia Pacific Pte. Ltd.
Maricar Gonzales, Regional Marketing Communications Manager, APJ
Tel: +65 6431 9817
Email: maricar.gonzales@hp.com
Website: www.hp.com
Nokia, Networks
Communications
Tel: + 358 7180 38198
www.nokia.com