Charlotte, N.C. -- At the annual conference of the Association of Public-Safety Communications Officials-International (APCO), Motorola's Land Mobile Products Sector this week made public its position for licensing agreements covering its essential intellectual property rights (IPR) to technology for APCO Project 25 required standards for conventional and trunked digital two-way radio systems.
Motorola provides licenses for its modulation, channel protocol, and trunking patents required in the Project 25 standards, as well as essential encryption patents, royalty free to signatories of the industry's IPR-Memorandum of Understanding (IPR-MOU).
To date, 33 land mobile radio industry equipment suppliers, including Motorola, have signed the IPR-MOU agreeing to license their essential technology required for the standard to other signatories under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms.
Motorola said that it is licensing royalty free its essential IPR that is part of the Project 25 common air interface, channel protocol, trunking systems, or encryption. There are no geographic or market restrictions on where equipment and systems can be manufactured or sold. The only restrictions are that licensees must comply with United States federal laws and State Department provisions on international trade.
The licensing terms apply to system infrastructure as well as subscriber equipment.
Motorola is announcing its licensing terms in response to the recognition and support the Project 25 standard has received worldwide, the increasing number of manufacturers that have indicated interest in designing and selling their own standard-compliant systems, and the many suppliers who have approached the company for licenses of its Project 25 technology.
The company also is encouraging other manufacturers who believe they hold essential IPR to make similar offers to the APCO Project 25 MOU signatories. To date, Motorola has signed agreements with nine manufacturers.
"We believe this can only accelerate the rate at which APCO and users reach the Project 25 goals of digital system interoperability, true life cycle competition, and consistent, reliable digital system performance," said Dennis Dibos, vice president and director, business development for Motorola's U.S. and Canada Group.
When work began on the Project 25 digital two-way radio standard in the late 1980s, the APCO Project 25 Steering Committee, which was responsible for the standard-setting process, agreed to consider the best technology for the standard. The Steering Committee announced that proprietary technology would be included in the standard only if those who held the essential IPR agreed to license it to other manufacturers under fair, reasonable and non-discriminatory terms. The participating manufacturers that signed the Project 25 MOU agreed to the requirement, and Motorola has continually complied with that requirement.
APCO formally adopted Project 25 as the public-safety industry's standard for digital two-way radio systems in 1995. The Telecommunications Industry Association, which represents two-way radio suppliers, has completed significant work on its own approvalprocess for the Project 25 standard. In 1996, Motorola introduced its ASTRO' conventional digital radio communications system, the industry's first Project 25 compliant conventional product line.
"One of Motorola Land Mobile Products Sector's highest-priority strategic goals has been to serve the public-safety market with integrated wireless communications and information solutions for user-owned, private systems," Dibos said. "It was critical that we listened to our customers. When users said that they wanted a digital standard, we heard them. We are proud of the contributions we have been able to make toward achieving the Project 25 standard."
Motorola is one of the world's leading providers of wireless communications, semiconductors and advanced electronic systems and services. Major equipment businesses include cellular telephone, paging, two-way radio, data communications, personal communications, automotive, defense and space electronics and computers. Motorola semiconductors power communications devices, computers and millions of products. Motorola 1996 sales were $28 billion.