Singapore - With plans to double investments up to S$20 million for 2001, in addition to support from the Economic Development Board of Singapore (EDB), the Cyberlab facilities is set to become a vibrant R&D hub for telecommunication technology in Asia.

The R&D center was first set up in1999 to develop mobile terminals and applications for 3G and the mobile Internet. It aims to provide developers with a real-life environment that focuses on end-user needs.

In addition to its GPRS/3G development and testing environment, Cyberlab will provide developers access to pre-release terminals, technical expertise and business consulting to support the creation, implementation and launch of new wireless services and applications.

"Cyberlab is an extremely successful terminal and application research lab. For instance, the DelphiPad was prototyped here together with our partners in eight months right after the launch of Cyberlab," said Claes ?man, President, Ericsson Telecommunications Pte Ltd.

A EDB spokesperson commented that the move by Ericsson to establish such facilities complements the efforts of other industry players who are putting in place a network infrastructure.

"Since the inauguration of Ericsson Cyberlab Singapore in 1999, we have conducted research projects for developing a user-friendly mobile Internet. These include wireless data applications for 3G such as Chinese language applications, BuddySync (an application for teenagers) and location-based services," said Dr Frank Reichert, Director, for Wireless Application Research, Ericsson Cyberlab Singapore.

Initiatives by the new Cyberlab are in support of Ericsson's overall commitment to making the mobile Internet a reality. To that end, the telecom equipment giant has formed alliances with third parties which includes SingTel Mobile (to provide a complete mobile network testbed for wireless application developers), Hewlett-Packard (for their Mobile E-services Bazaar), Virtual Map and goMobile.

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