At a press event hosted today by the Cellular Operators Association of India (COAI), Texas Instruments Incorporated (TI) [NYSE:TXN] Chairman Tom Engibous announced that TI has made a live phone call from India to Europe, further proving its single-chip cell phone technology. Engibous made the phone call on a live cellular network, demonstrating the next step in TI's strategy to deliver a single-chip cell phone solution for ultra-low-cost handsets in emerging markets, such as India.

It is estimated that 80 percent of the world's population has wireless coverage. However, only about 20 percent subscribe to wireless services due largely to the cost of mobile phones. This represents a huge opportunity for delivering mobile services to large sections of the world's population. In India alone, roughly 11 percent of its total population has telecom connectivity with a mobile subscriber base of 58 million. TI's cost-effective single-chip cell phone solution enables handset manufacturers to capitalize on the burgeoning opportunities in India and other emerging markets worldwide.

TI announced last December that it had delivered the industry's first single-chip solution for mobile phones. Typical mobile phones require multiple chips to operate, which add to the overall cost. Developed through TI's advanced 90nm CMOS manufacturing technology, the single-chip solution is now sampling and targets the mass-market voice-centric marketplace.

Leveraging TI's DRPTM  (Digital RF Processor) technology, TI's single-chip cell phone solution integrates the bulk of handset electronics onto a single chip to dramatically reduce cost, power requirements, board area, and silicon area - performance factors that are crucial for high-volume entry-level mobile phones.

Developed initially for GSM/GPRS handsets, TI's single-chip cell phone solution is paving the way for future single-chip solutions for additional air interfaces. With a roadmap designed to even further reduce system costs, TI is committed to continuing to drive down overall handset costs for emerging markets.