InterDigital Inc (IDCC)

[nieves]

GSM to Hit One Billion Subscribers By Year End 2003


Jan 27, 2003 (Vanguard/All Africa Global Media via COMTEX) -- According to
figures released by the GSM Association, the voice of the world"s wireless
industry, the GSM family of wireless communications continues to dominate the
wireless world. It is estimated that at the end of 2002 there were 787 million
GSM subscribers across 190 countries of the world.

The growth of GSM continues unabated with more than 160 million new customers in
the last 12 months. Since 1997, the number of GSM subscribers has increased by a
staggering 10 fold. During late 2003 or early 2004, it is predicted that global
GSM subscribers will smash through the one billion mark.

Craig Ehrlich, Chairman of the GSMA"s CEO Board commented: 'The impact that GSM
has made over the last decade cannot be understated. It has changed the world --
as signified by one in every 7 people on the planet that use GSM services today.
Growth continues at a pace -- it now accounts for more than 72 per cent of the
world"s digital wireless market -- and we fully expect to achieve one billion
customers around the turn of this year.'With such massive momentum, it is easy
to understand why 8 out of ten of the world"s digital wireless carriers, who
have made their 3G technology choices, have selected and invested billions of
dollars in the GSM family platforms of GPRS and W-CDMA as their next generation
technologies of choice globally," added Ehrlich.

As further evidence of GSM"s continuing advance and evolution, the GSMA
confirmed today that there are more than 140 data enabled GPRS networks
commercially deployed with a further 40 currently in construction. Customers are
already beginning to enjoy advanced, feature rich data services, such as Mobile
Multimedia Services (MMS) including picture messages and other leading edge
wireless applications.

Rob Conway, CEO of the GSM Association said: "This consistent growth
demonstrates that GSM continues to be the most successful open standards model
in the wireless world and possibly the fastest growing technology ever."The GSM
Association (GSMA) is the world's leading wireless industry representative body.
It consists of more than 660 second and third generation wireless network
operators working collaboratively to define, prioritise and communicate
requirements, as well as key manufacturers and suppliers to the wireless
industry. The Association's members provide digital wireless services to 787
million customers (end December 2002).

The GSM family of wireless communications platforms account for approximately 72
percent of the total digital wireless market today. The GSM Association is a
unique organization, with truly global reach, offering a full range of business
and technical services to its members.



Copyright Vanguard. Distributed by All Africa Global Media(AllAfrica.com)

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Daniel Nieves