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Matsushita, NEC announce tie up on 3G mobile tech

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CIOL Bureau
New Update

Daisuke Wakabayashi

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TOKYO: Matsushita Communication Industrial Co Ltd. and NEC Corp said on

Tuesday that they will tie up on third-generation (3G) mobile phone technology

and supply products under each other's brand names.

Japan's top two mobile phone makers and Matsushita Communication's parent,

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co Ltd, put rivalry aside at a joint news

conference and said the alliance was "aimed at strengthening global

business expansion of their technologies and products."

As global demand for mobile handsets chills, cross-border alliances have

begun to appear, such as one between Sony Corp and Sweden's Telefonaktiebolaget

LM Ericsson announced in April.

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Despite news reports that the two electronics giants would develop video

technology for 3G services, whose transmission speeds enable fast access to the

Internet, videos and music on mobile phones, the announcement gave little detail

about specific areas of cooperation.

The agreement, which also includes plans for the joint development of new

mobile phones for the multimedia market, comes as Japan's top mobile operator

NTT DoCoMo Inc prepares to launch on October 1 full commercial 3G services.

Matsushita Communication, which had a 26 per cent share of Japan's handset

market last year, and NEC, which has 23 per cent, also said they would supply

each other with mobile phones for sale under their own brands on an original

equipment manufacturing basis.

Matsushita Communication and NEC are the only companies with working 3G

cellphones in Japan as part of DoCoMo's introductory 3G service launched in May.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.

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