Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, and Siemens have today announced that Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic-brand products, has joined the MeT initiative. The companies are jointly developing an open and common industry framework for secure mobile electronic transactions. The aim of the MeT initiative is to develop safe and easy methods and platforms for conducting e-commerce transactions on the mobile phone. MeT also works to facilitate the development of innovative new services and applications - benefiting customers and service providers alike.
"The MeT initiative is pleased to welcome Matsushita, the world’s fourth largest mobile phone manufacturer, as a member of MeT. We believe that Matsushita will have a very important role in contributing to the initiative in terms of facilitating fast adoption of trusted mobile commerce services," said Martti Granberg, chairman of MeT. "At the same time, we would like to take the opportunity to welcome all other mobile phone manufacturers interested in sharing our basic views, to join MeT."
“The goal of Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd. is to define an open and global framework for mobile e-commerce on mobile phones as a part of MeT, and to make a contribution to launching e-commerce enabled mobile phones as soon as possible. Matsushita will also work jointly with operators, financial institutions, and content providers to develop easy-to-use mobile e-commerce in order ensure its popularity and acceptance by the mass market,” said Mr. Osamu Waki, Director of Personal Communications Division, and a member of the board of Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd.
The MeT Initiative was formed by Ericsson, Motorola, and Nokia on April 11, 2000, with the purpose of jointly developing an open and common industry framework for secure mobile electronic transactions. The initiative uses existing and emerging standards to create a common framework that will facilitate the fast adoption of trusted mobile commerce services globally.
The MeT technologies and concepts will work on all networks, with all services, and from all mobile devices. They will draw on existing industry standards such as WAP, Wireless Transport Layer Security (WTLS), Wireless Identification Module (WIM), Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) and Bluetooth. Privacy and security will be ensured with digital signatures and cryptography services for transaction verification, confidentiality, authentication, and non-repudiation. Examples of MeT based applications include secure access and use of personal credit cards, debit cards, loyalty schemes, and ticketing. More information can be found at www.mobiletransaction.org.
About Ericsson
Ericsson is the leading communications supplier, combining innovation in mobility and Internet in creating the new era of Mobile Internet. Ericsson provides total solutions covering everything from systems and applications to mobile phones and other communications tools. With more than 100,000 employees in 140 countries, Ericsson simplifies communications for customers all over the world. For more information about Ericsson, visit the Website at www.ericsson.com/pressroom.
About Motorola, Inc.
Motorola, Inc. (NYSE:MOT) is a global leader in providing integrated communications solutions and embedded electronic solutions. Sales in 1999 were $33.1 billion. For more information about Motorola, visit the Website at www.motorola.com.
About Nokia
Nokia is the world leader in mobile communications. Backed by its experience, innovation, user-friendliness and secure solutions, the company has become the leading supplier of mobile phones and a leading supplier of mobile, fixed and IP networks. By adding mobility to the Internet Nokia creates new opportunities for companies and further enriches the daily lives of people. Nokia is a broadly held company with listings on six major exchanges. For more information about Nokia, please visit www.nokia.com.
About Matsushita
Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd., a consolidated subsidiary of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd., best known for its Panasonic- brand products, is one of the world's leading manufactures of mobile phones for the global market. The company's contributions to the mobile communications industry include W-CDMA wireless infrastructure products, information platforms, and terminal products for mobile multimedia. It is also working with other leading mobile communication manufactures on the Symbian project, whose goal is to develop an operating system for mobile information terminals. For more information about Panasonic's mobile communications, visit their web site at www.mci.panasonic.co.jp/english. Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. (NYSE:MC), a worldwide leader in the development and manufacture of, electronics products for home, business and industrial use, recorded consolidated sales of US$68.9 billion for fiscal year ended March 2000. Matsushita Electric and its affiliates have over 290,000 employees in 46 countries. For more information about about Matsushita Electric and its Panasonic products, visit their web site at www.panasonic.co.jp/global/top.html.
About Siemens IC Mobile
The Siemens Information and Communication Mobile Group (26,000 employees, sales of 6 billion EUR in first 9 months of FY 2000) offers a complete range of mobile telephone products including devices, infrastructure and applications. Devices include mobile phones, ISDN phones, mobile organizers, cordless and corded phones. The infrastructure portfolio includes the complete range of network technologies from base stations and switching systems to applications and intelligent networks. For more information about Siemens, please visit www.siemens.de/ic/mobile.
Further information:
Jan Ahrenbring, Vice President, Marketing and Communications
Ericsson Mobile Communications AB
Tel. +46 70 590 9900
jan.ahrenbring@ecs.ericsson.se
Patrick Hamilton
Motorola
Tel. +1 441 256 790 481, patrick.hamilton@motorola.com
Pekka Isosomppi
Nokia Mobiles Phones
Tel. +358 10 5051, pekka.isosomppi@nokia.com
Yasuharu Enda
Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd.
Tel. +81 0 3 3438 9203, P02793@plt.mci.mei.co.jp
Georg Wolf
Siemens ICM Mobile Devices
Tel. +49 0 89 722 32 431, georg.wolf@mch.siemens.de
www.nokia.com