June 11,
2004
VoiceAge Networks
Acquires AMR Licensing Rights
Montreal, Quebec, Canada—June 11, 2004
– VoiceAge Corporation and VoiceAge Networks
Corporation are pleased to announce the conclusion
of a license agreement for the AMR (Adaptive
Multi-Rate) narrowband codec, an ETSI and 3GPP
ratified standard. The patent portfolio license
provides VoiceAge Networks with patents essential
to the speech compression technologies that
make up the AMR codec. VoiceAge Networks is
a developer of content creation and adaptation
software that supports and exceeds the foremost
standards for mobile-ready multimedia messaging.
As the License Agent for the AMR patent pool,
VoiceAge joined with Ericsson and Nokia, the
other major patent contributors, to create the
patent pool in February 2004. The pool accelerates
market development by providing users of the
AMR codec with simplified access to the technology.
Through VoiceAge, the pool grants essential
patent licenses for a new range of applications
such as bridging wireless telephony and content
to desktop computers, VoIP telephony, VoIP gateways,
content applications, and media players.
“The one-stop-shopping opportunity afforded
by the patent pool was a real incentive for
VoiceAge Networks. It gave us easy access to
patents essential to the AMR technology,”
says Jean Mayrand, CEO of VoiceAge Networks.
“We recognize the importance of having
the rights to use intellectual property and
also recognize the value to our customers that
their suppliers have proper indemnification.”
“The AMR narrowband patent pool ensures
that the market is offered convenient, fair,
reasonable, and nondiscriminatory access to
a portfolio of essential worldwide patents under
a single license agreement. By facilitating
access to the necessary patent rights, the pool
aids the commercial deployment of AMR. Emerging
new tool and application developers, like VoiceAge
Networks, will all benefit from this initiative,”
says Laurent Amar, President of VoiceAge.
The patent licensing fees for AMR are presented
on the VoiceAge website at http://www.voiceage.com/amrsite/tech_nb_terms.php.
About AMR
The AMR standard is a speech coding algorithm
that operates at variable bit rates in the range
of 4.75 to 12.2 kbit/s in its narrowband configuration.
It is the only narrowband speech codec offering
eight different bit rates that can be adapted
according to network congestion, thus enabling
significant enhancement of quality of service
(QoS). The codec bridges packet network and
wireless applications, eliminating need for
transcoding and the resulting degradation of
quality.
This technology was initially developed for
the GSM system, the single most deployed 2G
mobile telecommunication system worldwide, used
mostly in Europe and Asia. It was later adapted
by the 3GPP as the mandatory codec for 3G wireless
systems based on the evolved GSM core network
(WCDMA, EDGE, GPRS). The AMR narrowband codec
was standardized by the European Telecommunications
Standards Institute (ETSI) in 1999.
About VoiceAge
Networks
VoiceAge Networks is dedicated to creating leading
edge technology that empowers the evolution
of mobile multimedia messaging. The SPOT xde®
Media Platform is a portfolio of products focused
on the creation, encoding, transcoding and messaging
of rich multimedia content for the Internet
and wireless communities. The components of
the SPOT xde® Media Platform are designed
to meet the needs of mobile network operators,
MMSC providers, device manufacturers and content
providers in the multimedia messaging environment.
The content creation and adaptation software
created by VoiceAge Networks supports and exceeds
the foremost standards for mobile multimedia
messaging: 3GPP and 3GPP2 specifications for
mobile-ready MMS, and the NTT DoCoMo specifications
for i-motion and M-Stage types of MMS.
Visit VoiceAge Networks at
www.voiceagenetworks.com
About VoiceAge
VoiceAge is pleased to undertake the mandate
of License Administrator on behalf of the AMR
Narrowband Patent Pool. Our experience has well
prepared us for the License Administrator role.
As a spin-off of Sipro Lab Telecom, providers
of licensing services to promote and transfer
audio technologies, we directly benefit from
their multidisciplinary expertise in the legal
and commercial aspects of licensing.
We have direct, hands-on experience as the inventor
and owner of the ACELP® proprietary portfolio
of more than 300 granted patents and patent
applications in the area of voice compression
and low bit rate audio. Our ACELP® patented
technology is at the foundation of AMR and has
been deployed in more than one billion mobile
phones and 500 million PCs worldwide.
Our expertise and practical experience also
extend to the process of technology standardization.
VoiceAge plays a key role in setting industry
standards as an active member of several standards
bodies including ITU-T, ETSI/3GPP, and 3GPP2.
Josée Benoit
VoiceAge Corporation
Tel: +1 514 737 4940, ext. 274
E-mail: josee.benoit@voiceage.com
Any product features, specifications or statements
in this document that are not historical facts
are forward-looking and involve risks and uncertainties.
Actual product features, specifications or forward-looking
statements are subject to change.
