2006-01-16

Birdstep joins a group of Norwegian technology companies to startup an innovation company

Oslo – January 17, 2006 - Birdstep Technology, Comperio, Fast Search & Transfer, Nera Satcom, Opera Software, Radionor Communications and Telenor are the seven Norwegian companies that entered into a new partnership called Movation AS in order to encourage more innovation in the wireless technology and mobile services field. The intention of the partners is that this should become an arena for creativity where experts from various professional backgrounds and disciplines can make use of their skills in new ways in order to secure innovation. The aim is to increase value creation through exports.

Norway is at the forefront of using wireless technology and mobile services. Recently, seven Norwegian companies entered into a new partnership called Movation AS in order to encourage more innovation in this field. The intention of the partners is that this should become an arena for creativity where experts from various professional backgrounds and disciplines can make use of their skills in new ways in order to secure innovation. The aim is to increase value creation through exports.

The seven co-working partners behind the new initiative are among the leading ICT companies in Norway and have already proved their success in innovation. They are Birdstep Technology, Comperio, Fast Search & Transfer (FAST), Nera Satcom, Opera Software, Radionor Communications and Telenor. The parties see great opportunities in using the huge demand for advanced services in Norway to encourage further development within this field, as well as enduring and profitable exports.

Innovation may occur in the intersection between different disciplines, and Movation AS shall be an instigator and co-ordinator between the partnering companies. Through interaction between different types of experts the new company will encourage multidisciplinary initiatives and secure good processes and more effective follow-up of the projects.

New ideas and concepts may be realised within the partnering companies whenever these can be fitted in with already existing activities, or they may be commercialised through new spin-offs. Movation AS will also seek to cooperate actively with public funding schemes and venture companies in the financing of the projects.

Movation AS is established as a commercially run limited company. The governing structure is unique in that all shareholders have equal governing rights, irrespective of ownership interest.

“There are some very interesting companies in the Norwegian ICT sector. We believe that there is still a huge amount of pent up creativity out there, and we want to use this creativity to secure development and profitability for all parties. The seven partners cover different areas, but we share common challenges and opportunities. It is therefore vital that we work together,” says Hans-Christian Haugli, CEO of Telenor R&D and Company Chairman of Movation AS

About Birdstep Technology
Birdstep Technology ASA is a public company listed on the Oslo Stock Exchange (OSE) under ticker 'BIRD' with head quarters in Oslo, Norway in addition to offices in Stockholm, Sweden and Seattle, USA, as well as offices in Frankfurt, Cambridge (UK), San Francisco, Sao Paolo and Shanghai. In December 2004 Birdstep acquired 100% of the shares in Alice Systems, now Birdstep AB in Sweden. The acquisition makes Birdstep a complete provider of connectivity and mobility solutions for PC, pocket-PC and Smartphone devices. that enable operators to improve their customer experience as they move between available networks, e.g. fixed, cellular and wireless connections. The company today employs around 70 people dedicated to development of advanced connectivity and seamless mobility solutions, as well as small footprint, high performance database technologies. Birdstep's global customers and partners include Nokia, SonyEricsson, Cisco, 3Com, Alcatel, Ericsson, Nortel Networks, HP, Fujitsu Siemens Computers and more than 30 mobile network operators worldwide including T-Mobile Group, Vodafone Group, Orange, TIM, Sprint , Telenor and TeliaSonera. Birdstep offers “SmartRoaming”, a hosted roaming service to provide mobility across networks independent of the operator or subscription. For more information, visit www.birdstep.com.

About Comperio
Comperio delivers innovative and leading edge solutions for search and retrieval of information and knowledge to companies in Nordic region. As “Preferred Nordic FAST Partner” Comperio develops solutions based on FAST Search & Transfer's technology platform and delivers a complete service offering to their customers. Comperio seeks to increase their customers` actual utilization of information and knowledge, strengthen the analysis and improve the distribution of the refined results. Comperio's ambition is to be recognized as the leading Nordic knowledge centre on advanced search and retrieval services. The key to effective search and retrieval solutions is Comperio