COPENHAGEN, Denmark, March 20, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- GN Netcom has entered into an OEM agreement with Motorola, Inc. on the development and manufacture of headsets with Bluetooth(tm) technology, enabling wireless communication with Motorola mobile phones. Under the OEM agreement, Motorola will market GN Netcom's Bluetooth headset to its customers throughout the world. Sales are anticipated to commence during the second half of 2001, shortly after Motorola launches its first Bluetooth enabled mobile phones.
GN Netcom will retain the proprietary rights to its headset technology and plans to market the Bluetooth product independently, through other OEM partners and in the consumer market under its own JABRA mobile phone brand, beginning next fall.
The new OEM product combines state-of-the-art, wireless Bluetooth technology solutions with GN Netcom's headset expertise and Motorola's industrial design. Featuring a communication range of approximately 10 meters, the headset is minute and ultra-light, and is worn directly on the ear.
Parallel with the Bluetooth technology solution, GN Netcom has moreover teamed up with the Danish Company RTX Telecom. This makes RTX Telecom the preferred development partner for GN Netcom in its further work to develop new wireless and hands-free Bluetooth solutions. Head-quartered in Norresundby, Denmark, RTX Telecom is a trendsetter in the design and development of solutions to the growing market for wireless communications technology.
In September 2000, GN Netcom introduced one of the world's first Bluetooth certified products, the GN 9000 headset, intended for the professional office market. The second-generation Bluetooth headset, which is targeted at the rapidly growing market for mobile phones, and which can be used with mobile phones as well as with laptop computers and PDA's, will be showcased at the CTIA show in Las Vegas and the CeBIT exhibition in Hanover, Germany, during the period from March 20 to 28, 2001.
GN Netcom does not expect the alliances with Motorola and RTX Telecom to have considerable impact on the company's turnover or revenues in 2001. In the longer term, however, the Bluetooth technology venture raises higher hopes.
GN Netcom is part of GN Great Nordic (CSE:GNS), an internationally expanding group of companies in the technology sector operating in high-growth markets. GN Netcom is a leader in hands-free telecommunications technology, and specializes in designing and manufacturing headsets for telephony, mobile communications, and computer telephony applications. Headquartered in Copenhagen, GN Netcom has activities on four continents: research and development centers in New Hampshire, California, and Denmark, production facilities in the United States and the UK and sales companies in 15 countries. Its products are sold by business partners or distributors in more than 75 countries worldwide under the GN Netcom, JABRA, Liberation, ACS and Unex brands. GN Netcom is also an OEM supplier to a number of leading companies in the telecommunications industry.