China’s four top phone carriers have agreed to make short messaging services (SMS) between mobile and fixed-line phones interoperable, which is expected to boost the revenues of phone and SMS operators. China Unicom Ltd. said Thursday that its parent had signed an interclearing and interconnection agreement with China Telecom Corp. and China Netcom Group to allow the exchange of SMS between mobile and fixed-line users.
Softbank has apparently asked a Tokyo court to block the Japan government’s plan for distributing 3G spectrum to mobile phone operators, saying it would bar new entrants until 2012. The company argued the plan favoured the existing top two mobile phone operators — NTT DoCoMo and KDDI — in the 800-Mhz band used for high-speed wireless services, impeding Softbank’s mobile business plans.
The first mobile phone service enabling full-length songs to be downloaded to handsets is to be launched by a Japanese telco group that believes it has found the “killer application” that will transform 3G mobile technology. KDDI, Japan’s second biggest telecoms company, is set to launch the service late next month. Users will be able to choose from 10,000 songs on six websites and download them for the equivalent of a few US dollars, each.
President Nakamura faced the Tokyo press on September 30 and did… not too bad a job. In a wide-ranging presentation followed by Q&A, he covered fuel cell R&D (commercialization after FY 2006), Softbank’s moves to obtain 3G spectrum (vacating the spectrum tomorrow “cannot be done”), and Big D’s global strategy (with a dual-mode GSM/W-CDMA handset, you can access both). Nakamura also talked about churn, competition with KDDI/au, and the possibility of abandoning pre-paid services. A post-fall IR Roadshow program that’s not to be missed.
NTT Communications received awards for Best Global Carrier and Best New Service during the sixth annual World Communications Awards held in London on 11 October 2004. NTT Com beat out other global companies including AT&T, BT Global Services, Infonet and MCI to earn the coveted top spot in the prominent category of Best Global Carrier. NTT Com’s achievement represents the first time that an Asian carrier has won in this category.
NTT Advanced Technology has announced a prototype Internet access system for mobile phone users. Hot Access utilizes a cellphone’s infrared communications capability and a fixed-rate broadband network service to enable users to access mobile Internet content without being charged a packet fee. (Have to wonder what DoCoMo thinks about competition from a sister company? — Ed.)
