Blackpool, England/Osaka, Japan – January 17, 2011 - Fylde Micro Ltd (Blackpool, England) and Icom Incorporated (Osaka, Japan) officially announce the joint development of Mode 3 dPMR™ equipment.

This partnership brings together the pioneering work undertaken by Icom in 6.25 kHz narrowband digital protocol development with the unrivalled experience amassed by Fylde in the development of rugged and reliable trunked radio systems over the past 25 years.

The aim is to provide customers with high quality trunked and networked radio systems ranging in size from a single channel right through to wide area networks of several hundred sites.

Fylde and Icom are both founding members of the dPMR MoU group, and have been major contributors to the content of the ETSI dPMR standards. This collaboration seeks to bring to reality the results of this standards making work in the form of the system products to be offered. It will also be the first example of multi-vendor, interoperable dPMR equipment, which is one of the goals of the ETSI open standards architecture that dPMR is.

About dPMR™ dPMR is digital radio protocol specifically targeting highly functional solutions by using low cost and low complexity technology. dPMR is a narrowband (6.25 kHz) FDMA technology that is 100% digital that offers many forms of voice and/or data applications.

dPMR exists in a range of functional levels. Tier 1 dPMR446 license-free, Tier 2, Mode 1 licensed peer to peer, Mode 2 base station and repeater use and Mode 3 multi-site wide area networked systems.

The FDMA protocol specified in both TS102 490 and TS102 658 ETSI standards complies with the European Harmonised Standard EN301 166-2 for use in 6.25 kHz channels.

More information on dPMR can be found at the following web site: http://www.dpmr-mou.org/

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About Icom Incorporated http://www.icom.co.jp/world
ICOM Inc. has been a world leader in radio communications for over 40 years. One of a few organizations that manufacture a total radio line-up of Land Mobile, Marine, Amateur, Air Band and Communications Receivers, ICOM's technological prowess is legendary. ICOM continues to lead the industry with the development of digital technologies to provide the future in radio communications to the world. In this respect, Icom was proud to be the first manufacturer to offer a license-free dPMR446 (Tier 1) product to the market, and will continue to provide dPMR™ solutions into the future.

NOTE
This news release is the presentation of matters regarding the above-mentioned companies to the general public, and was not prepared for the solicitation of investments.
Forward-looking statements contained above are based on currently available information and therefore actual results may significantly differ depending on various factors.
Please do not make any material judgments based on the statements contained herein.

Norman Burrows CEO explains..
Fylde has been a major provider of trunked radio solutions since 1985, supplying technology to many well-known names in PMR such as Alcatel, Kenwood, Maxon, Motorola, Nokia and Tait. Over the past 24 years, Fylde customers have enjoyed continuous support from 3 generations of product; protecting the customers investment, and maximising their profits. So what are Fylde doing about digital?

Some markets may demand the DMR TDMA solution, whilst others may be more suited to FDMA dPMR. With new networks the choice of technology rests with the client. However existing network operators may have an installed base of analogue equipment not compatible in any way with either of the new offerings.

Which digital solution will work for your Organisation?
Fylde is an active participant in two ETSI digital standards: DMR (12.5kHz 2 slot TDMA) and dPMR (6.25kHz FDMA). Each solution has its own strengths & merits.

To provide the best possible options for all of our customers, Fylde will support both protocols.

- DMR is technically more demanding to manufacture than FDMA solutions and require approximately half the number of repeaters and associated antenna equipment. DMR may eventually support duplex operation and could provide better performance for emergency calls. More about DMR >>

- dPMR may be easier to upgrade from legacy analogue equipment. The analogue repeaters could possibly be reconfigured to 6.25kHz channel spacing and the receiver might be good enough to support the digital decoding. More about dPMR >>

Multi-Protocol Support
Multilingo TSC04 will be the 4th generation Fylde trunking controller. TSC04 will support MPT1327, DMR, dPMR and conventional systems. More than that, TSC04 has been designed to support these protocols within the same radio site. This allows customers to select their protocol of choice.
More information on our LOW RISK migration strategy >>

Can it be true? - Demand the Evidence
Lately there have been some irrational claims made about upgrading to digital. Some are offering product as dPMR trunking when in fact the protocol is proprietary and is not compatible with ETSI standard equipment. Others claim to offer a mere software upgrade from MPT to DMR. This seems very unlikely and may lead to unfulfilled promises, condemning a network operator to a sub-standard solution for the life of the system; a 15 year sentence!

For safety’s sake, always demand evidence to substantiate any claims.
Fylde is ready and willing …..