Motorola buys UK mobile software company

Number two handset maker Motorola said on Thursday that it agreed to buy mobile phone technology developer TTP Communications for £103 million ($193 million).

The companies have worked together historically, with TTP supplying its application platform to Motorola for use in low-cost mass market phones.

Motorola said it plans to keep TTP Communications’ 575 employees and that the company will remain based in Cambridge, England.

In addition to developing the AJAR mobile device application platform, TTP designs radio and baseband chip sets and develops protocol stack software for different silicon platforms. It has recently worked on developing its architecture to support the wide array of technologies that handset makers are bundling into phones, including integrated Wi-Fi, mobile TV, GPS (global positioning system), and FM radio. TTP also recently introduced products designed for very low cost handsets, which mobile operators are increasingly interested in as they target new markets.

In addition to Motorola, TTP counts LG Electronics, Research In Motion, and Intel among is customers. TTP’s technology runs the XM music phone, sold by O2 in the U.K.

After years of slipping sales, Motorola has recently begun to make a comeback. Gartner reported on Wednesday that during the first quarter Motorola increased its market share to 20 percent from 16 percent during the same quarter last year. Nokia, the largest mobile phone maker, increased its share to 34 percent from 30 during the same period.