PR releases

Ubiquisys and Sony announce manufacturing agreement for Zonegate low-cost residential 3G access point

SWINDON, England & PENCOED, Wales - UbiquiSys Ltd, the developer of mass-market wireless femto access points for the residential market, and Sony UK Technology Centre, the complete supply chain solution including procurement, manufacturing and engineering support, today announced a manufacturing agreement for the Ubiquisys ZoneGate system.

Manufacture of the mass-market access points will be sited at the Sony UK Technology Centre based at Pencoed in South Wales, a 30,000m2 site dedicated to electronic equipment manufacturing, warehousing and distribution.

The agreement includes the option to extend production to Sony manufacturing plants worldwide at a later date.

Femtocells are cellular access points for mobile operators looking to provide enhanced, in-building 2G or 3G mobile coverage within homes and small businesses. Made possible through recent advances in low-cost 2G/3G silicon, as well as advanced radio frequency planning techniques, femtocells are receiving strong interest from operators globally. However, the challenge facing vendors is to create a product at a mass market price point that facilitates cost-effective large scale deployments.

‘I’m delighted to announce this collaboration with one of the world’s leading electronic equipment manufacturers,’ said Chris Gilbert, CEO Ubiquisys. ‘While other companies have focused on the enterprise market, we specifically developed the ZoneGate product from the ground-up to target the residential market. Sony’s peerless experience of leading edge volume production and the purchasing power of Sony Worldwide component sourcing will help us deliver a feature rich product at a mass market price.’

‘Sony’s Pencoed Technology Centre will provide Ubiquisys with the complete range of volume production, global logistics and EMC testing facilities required for mass market manufacture,’ said Derry Newman, Managing Director, Sony UK Ltd. ‘We have a strong track record working with innovative start ups and look forward to supporting Ubiquisys in bringing a high quality product to market.’

A new study from ABI Research forecasts that by 2011 there will be 102 million users of femtocell products on 32 million access points worldwide.

About UbiquiSys Ltd

Ubiquisys is a privately owned communications company formed in 2004 to bring the groundbreaking ZoneGate femtocell technology to market. The ZoneGate access point is a small plug-and-play device that simply and seamlessly connects to a user's broadband gateway. The product integrates seamlessly with the operator’s core network using a range of standards including Iub, UMA and IMS, and can be remotely managed and updated. The system enables mobile operators to extend 2G and 3G coverage in an extremely targeted way, reduce deployment costs, generate new revenue streams and speed up fixed-mobile substitution. For more information, visit www.ubiquisys.com

About the Sony UK Technology Centre

Sony Corporation is a leading manufacturer of audio, video, game, communications, key device and information technology products and components for the consumer and enterprise markets. In 1974 Sony became the first major Japanese company to open a factory in the UK. The Sony Technology Centre at Pencoed has developed a reputation for manufacturing excellence within the electronics sector which has been recognised through the receipt of four Queen’s Awards for Export, as well as the Queen’s Award for the Environment. The centre is certified to both ISO 9001 (quality) and ISO 14001 (environment) and is a previous winner of the British Quality Award. World-class facilities and expertise include equipment design, build and installation; circuit board assembly & test; clean room manufacturing facility; material sourcing, evaluation & approval; product approval testing (EMC test); and a totally integrated manufacturing management system.