NEC establishes WiMAX R&D Center in Taiwan

Tokyo, June 10, 2008 - NEC Corporation announced today that it has established an R&D Center for WiMAX systems in Taiwan. The center will initially serve as an Interoperability Testing (IOT) center for local CPE vendors and NEC's WiMAX system, "PasoWings" . In the future, the center is planned to become an application development center for WiMAX. The establishment of the R&D center is part of an agreement by NEC to support the M-Taiwan Project following an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed in May 2007 during the Taipei WiMAX Summit.

Since 2006, NEC has jointly carried out multiple WiMAX-based trials and demonstrations with Tatung InfoComm as part of ongoing M-Taiwan project development. NEC recently passed an acceptance certificate from the Industrial Development Bureau, Ministry of Economic Affairs(IDB) for achievements during phase 1 of its M-Taiwan project in Hua-Lien City.

In August 2007, WiMAX commercial licenses were issued to six operators in Taiwan, including Tatung InfoComm, by Taiwan's National Communications Commission (NCC). Tatung began the process of selecting an equipment supplier for new system development, and chose to have NEC join as a partner for this pioneering effort. NEC's prior dedication to implementing mobile service field trials, including Remote Care and Tourism Portal, in Hua-Lien beginning in early 2007 played a key role in Tatung's decision to select NEC.

NEC anticipates that the WiMAX R&D Center will significantly contribute to the growth of Taiwan's WiMAX market, and capitalize on IOT opportunities to drive the expansion of WiMAX Customer Premises Equipment (CPE).

Furthermore, NEC aims to leverage its local WiMAX experiences in order to expand into new international markets that span the world.