International cooperative research and development of wireless personal communications in Asian-Pacific countries

The authors present the background and an approach of Asian-Pacific cooperation in research and development (R&D) of mobile radio or wireless personal communications (WPC). Due to the regional features of the Asian-Pacific countries (APC) such cooperation is needed. The huge size of the APC market as well as its high production potential should be taken into account when a global standard for WPC is to be established. This article shows a view of the future WPC in the APC and introduces the Asian-Pacific Wireless Forum (APWF), which is a venue for discussion of the Asian-Pacific standard for WPC, as a step toward establishing a global standard that should satisfy personal or regional requirements as well as universal transparency in WPC.