US : UMA Today, an international consortium of companies leading the adoption of 3GPP UMA technology, and Orange / France Telecom announced they will recognize excellence and innovation in UMA-based products and services with the UMA Innovation Awards 2008.

The UMA Innovation Awards 2008 will be presented at the Mobile World Congress taking place in Barcelona on Feb. 11-14, 2008. Georges Penalver, senior executive vice president of strategic marketing for France Telecom Group, will host the awards ceremony.

“UMA is a strategic technology for any operator developing a ‘home zone’ service offer,” said Penalver. “UMA is the cornerstone technology of Orange’s convergence strategy, and the company is proud to sponsor the UMA Innovation Awards.”

The UMA Innovation Awards will be judged independently by a panel of industry experts. The categories include best service offer based on UMA technology, best dual-mode handset innovation, best infrastructure solution, and best test platform. The awards will also recognize the person and the company most influential in the UMA market. Self nominations as well as peer nominations will be accepted. More information about the awards can be found at www.UMAToday.com/awards, including timeline, submission procedures, and details about the judging process.

Since ratification by the 3GPP in 2006, UMA technology has quickly gained popularity through worldwide deployments. Today, more than 12 operating companies have deployed UMA-based service offers and more than 30 companies have products which support UMA.

According to Stéphane Téral, senior analyst with Infonetics Research, “UMA, which was believed to have short legs just a year ago, is the predominant technology deployed today to implement seamless FMC between wireless LAN and 2G. UMA can now support 3G, is backed by the 3GPP, and has a clear migration roadmap to IMS.”

About UMA Today

UMA Today is an international consortium of companies joined together to lead the adoption of 3GPP UMA Technology around the world. UMA Today publishes the UMA Today Magazine, maintains the UMA Today website, hosts Webinars and is involved in other industry activity to promote UMA technology. For more information, please visit www.UMAToday.com.