The Bluetooth Special Interest Group (SIG) says that the Bluetooth specification is now available to the Chinese Post and Telecom Industry Standardization Research Institute (PTISRI), a research arm of the Ministry of Information Industry (MII), as a copyright license to "use, copy, publish, distribute and translate, but not to modify or sub-license," for the purpose of researching the Bluetooth specification to determine its future as a possible Chinese national standard.

The move also reflects the ongoing globalization of the Bluetooth standard, and will contribute to opening up the Bluetooth marketplace to Chinese manufacturers.

The decision by the Bluetooth SIG to make the Specification available to the PTISRI of MII for translation and distribution opens up the possibility of later making the Bluetooth Specification into a national standard. If this is adopted by the Chinese government it is expected to further support Chinese companies in developing Bluetooth products. Currently, Chinese companies may use the global standard in product manufacturing, but without additional regulation and support from a national Chinese standard.

In Asia, the Bluetooth SIG has more than 1,000 member companies where the 160-strong membership in China is set to grow as the nation's technology vendors deploy Bluetooth technology in a variety of consumer electronics products, such as mobile phones , laptops and headsets.

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"The Chinese market is critical to us," said Dr. Michael Foley, executive director of the Bluetooth SIG. "We hope to provide Chinese manufacturers and developers of Bluetooth wireless technology with equal access to Bluetooth SIG resources, including translated versions of the core specifications, plus access to qualification and Bluetooth brand use."

Rapid development of the Bluetooth market in China is impressive, with industry-watchers forecasting that Bluetooth technology is well suited to emerging consumer lifestyles among a high population and large-scale commercial activities. China is currently home to more than 2 billion families using 1.5 billion television sets, 2.5 billion telephones, 330 million mobile phone subscriptions, more than 79 million Internet users and the fastest growing auto market in the world. These vast numbers give rise to enormous potential and scope for the personal network market ¨C and a promising future for Bluetooth technology in China.

The Bluetooth SIG, comprised of leaders in the telecommunications, computing, and network industries, is driving development of Bluetooth wireless technology and bringing it to market. The Bluetooth SIG includes promoter group companies Agere, Ericsson, IBM , Intel, Microsoft, Motorola, Nokia and Toshiba, and thousands of Associate and Adopter member companies. The Bluetooth SIG, Inc. headquarters are located in the United States.