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UbiNetics to develop 3G wireless products in India

Fakir Chand in Bangalore

UbiNetics Ltd, the wholly owned subsidiary of the UK-based PA Consulting Group plc, and a leading player in the next-generation wireless communication technology, is setting up its Indian facility in Bangalore to develop products in the 3G wireless space for GSM, GPRS and UMTS networking operators worldwide.

UbiNetics India Ltd, the Indian subsidiary of the Cambridge-based UbiNetics, will be investing pound 10 million in the next 12-18 months for the state-of-the-art facility and employing about 60-80 software professionals to develop the new products for the global market.

Disclosing the company's India plans, UniNetics chief operating officer Bjorn Krylander said here the development charter would include conceptualising the products, technology evaluation, rapid prototyping, and actual product design and development.

"Our product cycles for the embedded modules will be around 9 months. The charter for the Indian center will include generating over 100 patentable ideas in the mobile communication domain and rewarding its creators (read software engineers) with a share of the wealth created," Krylander said.

Keeping in view the increasing role mobile communications will play in the coming years, UbiNetics is planning to invest about $142 million in 2G and 3G wireless technologies over the next two years.

Being the de facto leader of test mobile platforms for universal mobile telephone system, the Cambridge-based is already developing a UMTS cell simulator (node b). The company had launched the only cell simulator currently available in the world at the 3GSM world congress, held at Cannes in France in February last.

According to India country manager Venugopal N Potti, there is a tremendous opportunity for development center to design products that will redefine hand-held devices like PDAs, mobile communication, and NG wireless technology.

"With a leadership position in the UMTS domain, we intend to leverage the intellectual repository we possess at UbiNetics India to become a leading supplier of UMTS terminals in the global market place," Potti claimed.

Since mobile wireless communication is presently dominated by voice only, UbiNetics will focus on developing 3G wireless to enable transmission of high-volume data with equal ease on high-speed networks. "We are working on 2Mbps bandwidth for UMTS to transmit voice and data from even hand-held devices," said terminal core technology group director Careth Dixon.

The company is also engaged in the development of data centric products for the mass market, including its unique GSM type II PC card, Palm V Clip-on and embedded modules for the integration into other PC and PDA products.

The company has been posting phenomenal growth rates since its inception two years. While its revenues during 1999 were $3 million, it posted a record $15 million last year, and is projecting a revenue earnings of $50-60 million.

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