Huawei and Option announce cooperation agreement
Leuven, Belgium and Düsseldorf, Germany - 27 October 2010 - Huawei Technologies, a leader in providing next-generation telecommunications network solutions for operators around the world, and Option (Euronext: OPTI; OTC: OPNVY), the wireless technology company, today announced a cooperation agreement paving the way for new innovative wireless broadband solutions.
The companies have agreed, in principle, to work on joint Research & Development projects to stimulate innovation in the telecoms industry. Both companies are also exploring the establishment of a joint R&D centre in Belgium, as well as ways of contributing resources to develop new wireless broadband solutions and software. Through this collaboration, the two parties aim to support the achievement of Europe's Digital Agenda objectives.
Both companies have agreed to share technologies. Huawei has agreed to license Option's connection manager software, for which the first year of the license is valued at EUR 27 million. The agreement also includes the potential for an extension of the license for an amount of up to EUR 33 million over the next 18 months.
Both companies furthermore agreed, in principle, that Huawei is going to acquire Option's wholly owned semiconductor company M4S for approximately EUR 8 million. M4S is developing a state-of-the-art, next generation Radio Frequency chipset to be used in 4G devices. Option initiated a process in July of this year to sell M4S to a company that could better leverage the full scope of its Radio Frequency technology. The sale of M4S to Huawei will enable the M4S technology to avail itself of the vast resources of Huawei's R&D and distribution capabilities.
In the spirit of the future collaboration, Option has withdrawn its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaints against imports of wireless wide area networking modems from China, asked the Belgian government to withdraw its safeguard request, and asked the European Commission to close all three investigations.
'This collaboration between two innovative companies in the wireless technology industry is in the best interest of all stakeholders. The collaboration aims to improve our respective products and solutions and will offer long term benefits to our customers. The software license agreement is a big step forward in one of our key pillars of our strategy,' said Jan Callewaert, Option's CEO.
'As we seek to expand our already significant R&D capacity in Europe, we recognize there are mutual benefits to gain from joint research and development,' said Tim Watkins, vice president for Western Europe, Huawei. 'We are confident that this cooperation will allow each company to launch even more innovative mobile broadband products in the foreseeable future. Huawei will continue to invest in Europe by collaborating with more local partners and sharing our innovative telecommunications technology, thus supporting the further growth of the telecom industry in Europe.'
MEDIA CONTACTS
Jan Poté
Option PR & Media Relations
j.pote@option.com
+32 475 92 55 82
Yingying Li
Huawei Marketing & Communications Manager
yingyingli@huawei.com
+44 7920 870 500
Rory Macrae
GPlus Europe (on behalf of Huawei)
rorymacrae@gpluseurope.com
+32 477 439 279
ABOUT OPTION
Option, the wireless technology company, is a leading innovator in the design, development and manufacture of 3G HSUPA, HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE, and WLAN technology products for wireless connectivity solutions. Option has established an impressive reputation for creating exciting products that enhance the performance and functionality of wireless communications. Option is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. The company also has Research & Development in Belgium (Leuven) and Germany (Augsburg) and an ISO 9001 production engineering and logistics facility in Ireland (Cork). Option maintains offices in Europe, US, Asia, Japan and Australia. For more information please visit www.option.com.
About HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES
Huawei is a leader in providing next generation telecommunications networks, and now serves 45 of the world's top 50 operators, along with over one billion users worldwide. The company is committed to providing innovative and customized products, services and solutions to create long-term value and growth potential for its customers.
For more information, please visit www.huawei.com.
Copyright ©2010 OPTION. All rights reserved. All product and company names herein may be (registered) trademarks or trade names.
The companies have agreed, in principle, to work on joint Research & Development projects to stimulate innovation in the telecoms industry. Both companies are also exploring the establishment of a joint R&D centre in Belgium, as well as ways of contributing resources to develop new wireless broadband solutions and software. Through this collaboration, the two parties aim to support the achievement of Europe's Digital Agenda objectives.
Both companies have agreed to share technologies. Huawei has agreed to license Option's connection manager software, for which the first year of the license is valued at EUR 27 million. The agreement also includes the potential for an extension of the license for an amount of up to EUR 33 million over the next 18 months.
Both companies furthermore agreed, in principle, that Huawei is going to acquire Option's wholly owned semiconductor company M4S for approximately EUR 8 million. M4S is developing a state-of-the-art, next generation Radio Frequency chipset to be used in 4G devices. Option initiated a process in July of this year to sell M4S to a company that could better leverage the full scope of its Radio Frequency technology. The sale of M4S to Huawei will enable the M4S technology to avail itself of the vast resources of Huawei's R&D and distribution capabilities.
In the spirit of the future collaboration, Option has withdrawn its anti-dumping and anti-subsidy complaints against imports of wireless wide area networking modems from China, asked the Belgian government to withdraw its safeguard request, and asked the European Commission to close all three investigations.
'This collaboration between two innovative companies in the wireless technology industry is in the best interest of all stakeholders. The collaboration aims to improve our respective products and solutions and will offer long term benefits to our customers. The software license agreement is a big step forward in one of our key pillars of our strategy,' said Jan Callewaert, Option's CEO.
'As we seek to expand our already significant R&D capacity in Europe, we recognize there are mutual benefits to gain from joint research and development,' said Tim Watkins, vice president for Western Europe, Huawei. 'We are confident that this cooperation will allow each company to launch even more innovative mobile broadband products in the foreseeable future. Huawei will continue to invest in Europe by collaborating with more local partners and sharing our innovative telecommunications technology, thus supporting the further growth of the telecom industry in Europe.'
MEDIA CONTACTS
Jan Poté
Option PR & Media Relations
j.pote@option.com
+32 475 92 55 82
Yingying Li
Huawei Marketing & Communications Manager
yingyingli@huawei.com
+44 7920 870 500
Rory Macrae
GPlus Europe (on behalf of Huawei)
rorymacrae@gpluseurope.com
+32 477 439 279
ABOUT OPTION
Option, the wireless technology company, is a leading innovator in the design, development and manufacture of 3G HSUPA, HSDPA, UMTS, EDGE, and WLAN technology products for wireless connectivity solutions. Option has established an impressive reputation for creating exciting products that enhance the performance and functionality of wireless communications. Option is headquartered in Leuven, Belgium. The company also has Research & Development in Belgium (Leuven) and Germany (Augsburg) and an ISO 9001 production engineering and logistics facility in Ireland (Cork). Option maintains offices in Europe, US, Asia, Japan and Australia. For more information please visit www.option.com.
About HUAWEI TECHNOLOGIES
Huawei is a leader in providing next generation telecommunications networks, and now serves 45 of the world's top 50 operators, along with over one billion users worldwide. The company is committed to providing innovative and customized products, services and solutions to create long-term value and growth potential for its customers.
For more information, please visit www.huawei.com.
Copyright ©2010 OPTION. All rights reserved. All product and company names herein may be (registered) trademarks or trade names.
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