The Hunan Innovation Center, in provincial capital Changsha, will focus on developing wireless applications to drive innovation in China's dynamic telecom sector.

The inauguration of the center marks a further step in Motorola's R&D strategy, one of the most aggressive multinational drives to transfer R&D to China.

Since 1993 when Motorola launched its first R&D center in the country, the firm has established about 20 similar centers.

Motorola has pumped more than US$600 million into the centers and employs about 3,000 R&D staff, according to Ruey-Bin Kao, president of Motorola China.

The Motorola China Research and Development Institute, opened in 1999, has grown into the largest single R&D facility ever established by a multinational corporation in China.

Unlike other established R&D facilities dedicated to technology development, the Hunan Innovation Center will focus on developing enterprise platforms and mobile applications, also known as data services or value-added services, which are gaining increasing track in China.

"We see enormous opportunities in data services," said Kao.

"All the participants in the mobile telecom industry stand to benefit from the development of wireless technologies and innovative mobile applications."

Data services such as SMS (short messaging service) and ringtone downloads have been on a roll in China, boosting profits not only for operators but also content providers and wireless value-added service providers such as NASDAQ-listed Sohu.com and Sina Corp.

According to the Ministry of Information Industry, Chinese mobile phone users last year sent a total of 304.65 billion SMS messages.

And by June this year, China had 431.8 million mobile phone subscribers.

In the first half of the year value-added services contributed 22.6 percent of the operating revenue for Hong Kong-listed China Mobile Ltd, the country's dominant cellular operator.

"The Hunan Innovation Center will help drive the development of the next generation of mobile applications by making the most of Motorola's ability to work with the entire industry, including operators, service providers, application developers and end users," said Kao.

An increasing focus on developing wireless applications is expected to help Motorola cash in on the opportunities brought by the roll-out of 3G (third generation) mobile telecom services in China.

3G offers video calls, faster data downloading and faster access to the Internet through mobile phones, and could help operators spur revenue growth.

In April 2005 Motorola launched a 3G R&D center in Beijing, followed in March this year by another in Hangzhou, capital of East China's Zhejiang Province, focusing on network technologies.

In July, Motorola also joined with China's top telecom equipment maker Huawei Technologies to open a joint R&D center to develop 3G technology.

(China Daily September 14, 2006)