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Ericsson and truck manufacturer Scania have announced they will co-develop wireless Internet products for the transport industry.

Ericsson said it would develop the products using IP technology as well as Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), Bluetooth and global positioning systems. Scania's newly formed IT subsidiary, Infotronics, will integrate the new products into vehicles.

"The IT-based communications properties of a vehicle will soon be at least as important as, for example, it's cargo capacity or fuel consumption," predicts Hakan Samuelsson, Executive Vice President and Chief Technical Officer at Scania.

The companies claim that the global market for so-called Intelligent Transport Services (ITS) will be as much as $400 billion within 15 years. The focus, they say, is on fleet management and positioning services.