There hasn’t been much noise about it, but several media outlets are reporting that NTT DoCoMo has said it will stop offering 2G service by 2012 as 3G technology goes mainstream; Kyodo, Yahoo News, and AFP have all carried this item. If you’ve seen the popularity of 3G FOMA and CDMA WIN in Tokyo, the news of 2G’s slow demise on Japan’s biggest carrier will come as no surprise.
On 16 November, Dr. Brian Clark, acting president and CEO, Vodafone KK, presided at an Imperial Hotel presser announcing Vodafone Japan’s first-half results for the fiscal year ending 31 March 2005. Despite mobile operating revenue falling 2.5 percent year-on-year (to 736.8 bn yen), Clark put on a brave face and emphasized the new 3G terminal line-up, increased 3G coverage, growth in prepaid, and enhanced roaming. Nonetheless, several of his comments contrast sharply with what WWJ knows to be true about the Japan market.
Cellcos and handset manufacturers here are counting on the seemingly limitless Japanese craving to trade up to the trendiest and newest feature-packed cellies to push cash flow forward. Right behind the recent roll out of DoCoMo’s shiny, feature-packed 3G FOMA 901i-series comes a new line of four “Mova” (the carrier’s 2G brand) handsets targeting niche buyers. Lets take a look at these babies as each one has a distinctive feature targeting a specific, finicky, not-yet-ready-for-3G keitai shopper.
Niche marketing is undeniably cost-intensive — all those handsets require development, marketing and manpower to support. If 3G is where DoCoMo wants everyone to be, why continue to innovate within the older, 2G Mova line?
TV viewers have been using electronic program guides (EPG) and video recording on hard disk drives (HDDs) for viewing programs whenever desired. Now you can easily schedule television recordings without being in front of the TV or VCR, just by entering the necessary program information into your mobile while you are away from home — via i-mode, of course. WWJ reported on this system last year in our “CEATEC Japan 2003: The Future of Wireless” video program, now it’s finally coming to Prime Time.
JCB, a leading international payment brand, will start a three-month pilot project for its mobile infrared credit payment system on 29 November 2004 under the name “JCBeam Trial.” JCB is actively moving ahead with both contactless payment and infrared payment systems. JCB participated in KDDI’s Kei-Credit trial and in NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode FeliCa service preview, both in 2003, and is currently running a trial of the QUICPay contactless payment system using NTT DoCoMo’s mobile wallet service.
NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional subsidiaries announced today they will start selling the “SH901iC” 3G FOMA handset, unveiled on November 17, through DoCoMo sales channels nationwide on December 1, 2004. This news follows on their announcement earlier this week that launch had been postponed as the handsets needed to be “fixed.”
