Nokia and Optus Support Local Wireless Development

[Sydney, AUSTRALIA] Nokia and Cable and Wireless Optus (CWO) have announced the creation of an Australian centre designed to encourage the development, testing and delivery of new mobile technology applications.

The jointly managed Mobile Internet Application Development Centre will involve local third-party developers in the creation of new wireless application services, an initiative designed to provide market leadership to the development of mobile data applications for General Packet Radio Switched (GPRS) and Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) technology.

Nokia Networks director Kevin Brough said the centre was created with the idea that developers come to the centre to test and certify their ideas using the latest development tools and infrastructure.

“The [centre] will reduce the cost barriers faced by application developers in gaining access to high cost infrastructure to test and evaluate their concepts,” he said.

“This centre will allow us to produce and prove applications suite to our customers, allowing developers to work on their application ideas from initial concept through to a marketable service,” said Brough.

CWO’s mobile managing director Paul O’Sullivan said both companies aimed to drive a mobile information society through the centre’s developments.

“Together with Nokia we will enable customers to integrate corporate systems from email to intranets smoothly into a mobile environment,” said O’Sullivan.

“With Australia’s high penetration of mobile users this partnership will help to accelerate the benefits of new applications both locally and across the globe,” added Brough.