Year: <span>2003</span>
Year: 2003

Year: 2003

Motorola to Adopt China's 3G Standard?

Looking to cement its current lead in the China cellphone market, Motorola said Monday that it is considering tie-ups with Chinese firms to develop 3G handsets that use China’s TD-SCDMA standard. In a telephone interview with Reuters, Motorola’s director of global strategy on 3G, Bob Schukai said that if China does adopt the domestically-developed TD-SCDMA, Motorola’s best business plan would be working through local partnership deals to draw on local expertise.

DoCoMo to Expand 3G Service Area

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that beginning December 6, 2003, the service area for DoCoMo’s FOMA 3G mobile phones will cover 99.4% of the population in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region. Its eight regional subsidiaries will also expand FOMA service to an area encompassing approximately 98% of the nationwide population by the end of December. DoCoMo will continue to enlarge its FOMA service area, targeting 99% coverage of Japan’s population by the end of March 2004.

3G Taking Off, DoCoMo Develops FOMA Wireless LAN Phone

Just got news out from DoCoMo today that Big D has developed its first WLAN FOMA module. Details are sketchy at the moment, with official information we could find limited to a single statement in Japanese. However, the IEEE802.11b compatible clamshell weighs 123g and is 103 mm long by 53 mm wide. DoCoMo has yet to release other specs, or say when the phone is going to be on the market, but a big move for WLAN-FOMA has been on the cards ever since Big D announced it was trailing a FOMA-WLAN network at Japan’s gateway to the world- Narita Airport, with Japan Airlines this June. Meanwhile FOMA added a record 334,000 subscribers in October, underpinning the impression that 3G is finally flying. Could the next batch of FOMA cellies, out in February 04 have WLAN? The news comes on top of a recent report on DoCoMo by CSFB’s Mark Berman appropriately titled 2004: The Year of 3G, predicting FOMA subscriber growth surging to a million a month…

DoCoMo to offer Linux-based 3G phones

NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s top mobile operator, aims to offer 3G handsets that run on the Linux-based operating system as early as the second half of 2004, according to a source close to the firm. NEC Corp, one of the core handset suppliers for DoCoMo, said it aimed to offer Linux-based handsets by the end of 2004.

Vodafone K.K. Plans 3G Recovery

Vodafone KK has renewed the design and concept of its outlets called Vodafone Shops. Now that its “Sha-mail” service lost its overwhelming power to attract customers, the company is poised to start new mobile information distribution services. The company had a bitter experience in losing subscribers after it reduced the number of the types of the handsets used for its service. handsets. Also see WWJ articles on this from Oct. 8th and Nov. 21st.

NEC Launches New Product Family UNIVERGE: Includes Mobile IP System

NEC Corporation today announced the launch of a new product family, UNIVERGE, which consists of key components of its IT/Network integrated solutions. NEC will continue to develop the highly value-added UNIVERGE family of products by incorporating its proven advanced technologies related to computing and networking. First products of the UNIVERGE family include mobile IP system, VoIP server, high-speed access router, wireless LAN, multi-layer switch and new generation telephony server. NEC intends to enhance UNIVERGE product lineups and to flexibly and nimbly respond to users’ needs. The UNIVERGE family will be launched globally, including North America and Asia Pacific.