Greeting by the Chairperson, Dr. Hiroshi Ishikawa at the Inaugural General Meeting for the PHS MoU Group

Guest Speech by Mr. Ling Keok Tong, Assistant Director of Telecommunications Authority, Singapore

Guest Speech by Mr. H. Asami, Adviser of Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, Japan

The Inaugural General Meeting of PHS MoU Group was held on July 3 at the Singapore International Convention & Exhibition Center in Singapore.
Present at the meeting were about 125 people from 65 organizations and 12 different countries - Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, New Zealand, Bahrain, the Philippines, Hong Kong, Macau, South Africa, the U.S. and Japan. Besides the 48 Signatory Members, representatives from the telecommunications authorities of Singapore, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, Hong Kong and Japan also attended.
On behalf of the telecommunications authorities, Mr. Ling Keok Tong, Assistant Director of Singapore’s Telecommunications Authority and Mr. H. Asami, a Japanese Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications Advisor, made congratulatory speeches.
The attendees elected Dr. Hiroshi Ishikawa, Senior Vice President of NTT as Chairperson, and Mr. Masayoshi Wakao, Managing Director of the Association of Radio and Industries Businesses (ARIB) and Mr. Andy Gent, Chief Executive Officer of PHS International as Vice-Chairpersons. Mr. Kazuo Nakada was appointed as Secretary-General.
The works and activities of the Preparatory Group, established in July 1995, were assumed by the Group. PHS MoU Group also took under its authority such documents as the first version of “PHS MoU Specification,” “Guidelines for Treatment of IPR in connection with PHS MoU Specification” and “PHS ID Application Procedure and PHS Operator ID Application Procedure.”
The establishment of Technical and IPR (Industrial Property Right) Working Groups were approved. The Technical WG will continue to study the PHS specifications, such as the revision of the first version, international roaming, WLL and additional application services. The IPR WG will study essential PHS related IPR. In addition, the establishment of a Steering Committee was approved, and 21 persons were elected as members.
The PHS MoU Group has been officially inaugurated, beginning its activities in pursuit of its objective; to introduce, operate and spread the PHS worldwide, and thereby contribute to the improved convenience of telecommunication users and to the consequential benefit of the people of the world.
The Group’s secretariat office is located within ARIB’s Tokyo, Japan offices.