1.1 Introduction

The Virtual University Research Initiative (VURI) on Mobility is a corporately funded research project, which has looked at a wide range of topics and issues in the mobile radio and mobility area over several years. Although it has included other universities over this period, its success can be attributed to BT's long-term relationship with three UK universities Birmingham [1], Bristol [2] and Oxford [3]. This relationship has provided a reservoir of skills and expertise, which have remained reasonably consistent throughout considerable changes in BT's research and development objectives in the mobility area.

The project has had a number of BT managers, and been associated with several different research and development units. This chapter will chart this relationship and its benefit to the business as well as looking at the future significance and direction of the VURI.

1.2 Background Brief History of the VURI

In 1994, an audit of corporately funded research revealed a lack of expertise in the (then) new third-generation mobile technologies. The VURI was subsequently set up in 1995 to carry out research along lines suggested by both BT and the member institutions, and also act as a non-industrial expert group. The set-up of the VURI was also an experiment into a new way of organising university research the universities and BT's laboratories at Adastral Park are all members of one 'virtual university' despite having a number of bases around the country. All...