Motorola and Nokia Sign GSM Licensing and Certification Agreement

ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill., April 5, 1993 /PRNewswire/ -- Motorola (NYSE: MOT) and Nokia announced today it has signed a licensing agreement regarding essential GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications) patents.  According to the terms of the contract, which encompasses both the Cellular Infrastructure and Cellular Subscriber Groups of Motorola and the Telecommunications and Mobile Phone Groups of Nokia, both parties will cross-license all of their existing and future essential GSM cellular patents required to conform to the GSM standard.

In parallel with the contract, Motorola and Nokia have already undertaken an initial study of the compatibility of Motorola's GSM base station (RF) equipment and the Nokia DX200 GSM switching platform.  Full certification will be completed as customer requirements emerge for networks incorporating both Motorola base stations and Nokia switches.

"The cross-licensing agreements that Motorola has now concluded with all the leading manufacturers of GSM equipment demonstrate our commitment to achieving totally open architecture in cellular infrastructure," said Jack Scanlon, senior vice president and general manager of Motorola's Cellular Infrastructure Group (CIG).  "These understandings provide operators worldwide, with the freedom to select the switch of their preference when they deploy Motorola's GSM RF equipment."

Sari Baldauf, president of the Cellular Systems Division of the Nokia Telecommunications Group, stated, "Open architecture will be the key factor in the acceptance and success of GSM on a worldwide basis. While Nokia will continue to offer complete GSM networks based on the DX200 switch and our own radio equipment, the cross-licensing agreement with Motorola will significantly enhance the attractiveness of GSM among potential operators and so expand the total market."

"Motorola has already proved the compatibility of its GSM base station system with GSM switches from Siemens and Alcatel, and the links are in place with Nokia, Ericsson and others to achieve certification with all leading GSM switching platforms," said David Hughes, corporate vice president and general manager for Motorola's European Cellular Infrastructure Division (ECID).  "For operators, this is tangible evidence of the openness of GSM."

Nokia, a Finnish company with 26,000 employees in nearly 40 countries, has annual sales of some FIM 18 billion.  The company is a pioneer of digital telecommunications systems, supplying transmission equipment and the DX200 digital switch to public, cellular and private networks in 40 countries.  The world's second largest supplier of cellular telephones, Nokia is also a major supplier of cellular infrastructure, private mobile radio and data communications equipment.

Motorola is a leading designer, manufacturer and supplier of cellular telephones, infrastructure equipment and systems.  The company is also one of the leading providers of electronic equipment, systems, components and services for worldwide markets.