OSLO, Norway, April 5, 2001 (PRIMEZONE) -- Telenor (Nasdaq:TELN), Norway’s leading telecom and IT company, will co-operate with Birdstep Technology ASA in the development of mobile IP technology for Telenor’s Full Service Network (FSN). Mobile IP will offer users seamless access to, for example, the office LAN, irrespective of place and type of local access and irrespective of access technology. The technology also opens up for advanced mobile services and applications.
Mobile IP allows nomadic users to roam seamlessly between various mobile and fixed access technologies, such as GSM/GPRS, UMTS, Wireless LAN, Bluetooth, xDSL and Ethernet. For the nomadic user, this means that simple and seamless access to, for example, the office LAN is extended into the public network infrastructure, irrespective of place and type of local access. In an everyday scenario, a nomadic user can maintain an uninterrupted application session (such as, for example, a video conference), while moving from office Ethernet, through UMTS or GPRS access while in a car, to a customer location where Wireless LAN is provided.
Within this collaboration, Birdstep will deliver Mobile IP client technologies to Telenor's new Full Service Network. Telenor Full Service Network (FSN) is a strategic co-operation between Telenor and Cisco Systems. The vision of the co-operation is to implement an all-IP network infrastructure that will carry a wide range of services (fixed and mobile), supported in a single IP-based network architecture.
It is the objective of both parties that Mobile IP services will be made commercially available in the marketplace within a one-year timeframe. A pilot implementation is planned at the end of the second quarter 2001.
"We are proud to be working with Telenor in developing technology and services that are on the edge of both technological and market development," said CTO of Birdstep, Haakon Bryhni.
"We believe seamless handover between a wide range of access technologies to be of critical importance to users in the future. Telenor will continue to develop innovative services based on IP technologies," said Berit Svendsen CTO at Telenor.
Pending the success of the ongoing field trials and progress related to product and service development, the parties plan to enter into contractual agreements for commercial rollout, during the 2nd half of 2001.
About Birdstep Technology ASA
Birdstep Technology is the developer of Birdstep DataBase Engine, an award-winning, Ultra Small Footprint data manipulation and storage engine for any kind of data structure. It runs on operating systems such as Win32, Windows CE, Pocket PC, Linux, VxWorks, Elate, Epoc, pSOS, QNX and Palm/OS. The Birdstep DataBase Engine is targeted at devices such as mobile phones, PDAs/PWAs and Embedded Systems. In addition to database technology, the company also provides wireless technology infrastructure solutions such as Birdstep IP Zone Software and Birdstep Mobile IP Software. Birdstep was founded in August 1996 and has offices in Oslo, Norway and in San Jose, Calif.
About Telenor
Telenor is an international provider of high quality telecommunications, data and media communication services, with a particularly strong focus on mobile, Internet and broadband services. Headquartered in Oslo, the company is present in more than 30 countries, performed more than 20,000 man-years at home and abroad, and had revenues of close to US$4 billion in 2000. Internationally, Telenor is steadily increasing its investments within mobile, Internet, TV-distribution and Satellite communications, constantly providing its worldwide customers with leading-edge solutions at competitive prices. Telenor is listed at the Oslo Stock Exchange (TEL) and Nasdaq in New York (TELN).