April 27, 2010 - Sony Corporation of America and IPWireless today announced that the two companies have signed an agreement to jointly research and develop wireless technologies for 4G and beyond. The two companies will initially focus on enhancing Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology for new applications and services with work beginning immediately.

The research and development activity will be based at IPWireless’ technology center in Chippenham, England and will leverage both companies’ global resources.  Sony and IPWireless engineers will work together to develop key new technologies to enhance and expand the potential of LTE and other 3GPP technologies with the goal of contributing these new specifications to the 3GPP standards and beyond. These R&D initiatives will blend Sony’s capabilities for delivering rich user experiences and groundbreaking consumer innovation with IPWireless’ unparalleled expertise in developing 3GPP mobile broadband and broadcast technologies. 

“The wireless technologies of 4G and beyond hold the promise of opening up a new world of opportunities and possibilities for both mobile operators and consumers,” said Gregg Walker, Senior Vice President, Corporate Development, Sony Corporation of America. “IPWireless’ outstanding reputation for innovation and its significant contributions to the development of 3GPP wireless standards over the past decade make it an ideal partner for developing 4G technologies that will shape the future of tomorrow’s wireless lifestyle.”

Dr. Bill Jones, chief executive officer of IPWireless said, “We are thrilled to be working with an industry leader as distinguished as Sony to foster the creation of innovative 4G wireless solutions and LTE applications. Through this partnership, we believe that IPWireless will be able to greatly enhance the solutions we provide our mobile operator customers today, while developing next-generation services and applications that will continue to bolster our reputation as a leading wireless pioneer.”

IPWireless' high-performance mobile broadband solutions have been deployed by a set of marquee customers around the globe in both the commercial and government markets including T-Mobile,  New York City’s Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications (DoITT), and some of the first 700MHz deployments in the United States.