G.729 Consortium Updates Patent Pool IPR Royalty Pricing Options

MONTREAL, December 20 /PRNewswire/ --

- Introduces a Simpler Process Better Aligned with Industry Practices for
2008

Sipro Lab Telecom, the administrator of the G.729 Patent Pool which
represents the essential IPR and has contributed to this popular
communications standard developed by the G.729 Consortium members: France
Telecom, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, Mitsubishi Electric
Corporation, and Universite de Sherbrooke, announced today that the patent
royalty pricing options available to end-product manufacturers will be
modified as of January 1st, 2008.

The main motivation for this update in pricing policy, after more than
the nine years that the G.729 Consortium has been active, is to simplify and
better align the licensing pricing terms with current telecommunications
industry practice while streamlining the number of options available to two
clear choices:

1. A royalty payments based on the number of channels deployed option,
       with an initial administrative fee, minimum annual commitment and a
       yearly resettable maximum cap.

    2. A prepaid bank of G.729 channels (as the bank is depleted the licensee
       can either switch to Option 1 or prepay for an additional bank of
       channels).

The high-quality bandwidth efficient G.729 codec technology has been
widely deployed in VoIP-based systems and devices worldwide to date and is
expected to also play a substantial role as fixed-mobile networks converge
towards pervasive packet-based communications. The G.729 Consortium expects
that its updated Patent Pool pricing policy will facilitate the process for
obtaining a license to deploy solutions leveraging this technology in a
competitive environment by simplifying and clarifying the licensing choices.
For more specific details on the terms related to these pricing options,
those interested in obtaining a G.729 Consortium license are urged to please
contact Sipro Lab Telecom at info@sipro.com at their earliest convenience.
Sipro's team of experienced licensing experts can help advise you on choosing
the most favorable option for your specific G.729 licensing needs.

About the G.729 Consortium

The G.729 Consortium holds over 200 patents essential to this ITU-T
standard communications technology as declared by France Telecom, Mitsubishi
Electric Corporation, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corporation, and
Universite de Sherbrooke. The Consortium has mandated Sipro Lab Telecom to
promote and license the G.729 technology.

About Sipro Lab Telecom

Sipro, based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada was founded in 1994 with a
mission to efficiently and effectively provide a comprehensive one-stop-shop
for all IPR licensing-related services for the timely promotion and
commercialization of standard telecommunications technologies. Our aim, on
behalf of our clients and working closely with our partners, is to accelerate
the global market adoption and success of these key technologies towards
improving the quality and availability of communications around the world. To
date, Sipro has helped over 150 companies worldwide conclude a G.729
Consortium patent license agreement.

Web site: http://www.sipro.com