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Carriers

DoCoMo 3G FOMA Goes (partially) Flat Rate June 1

It’s official: the switch to flat rate for packet communications by NTT DoCoMo starts on June 1 at 3,900 yen per month—300 yen cheaper than KDDI. Is this the start of a new era of price wars that rapidly commoditize 3G services—reminiscent of what happened on Japan’s ADSL market a few years ago? Not if DoCoMo president Keiji Tachikawa can help it. Our first observation today was how few subscribers the flat rate will apply to—only heavy users who are used to price plans starting at 6,700 yen. The second point was DoCoMo’s opinion that perhaps only a third of heavy users might take advantage of the flat rate option this year.

DoCoMo to Release SH900i 3G Phone

NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that the SH900i, the fourth handset in the new 3G FOMA 900i series, will be released on March 20, 2004.The SH900i, like other 900i models, is equipped with a Macromedia Flash browser to enjoy rich content enhanced with highly fluid animation. It handles Flash applications of up to 100K and is equipped for richer, more sophisticated online games than ever before.

DoCoMo's 3G Flat Rate Lower than KDDI

Counterattack! Price War! Kyodo News here (notorious for its story twisting) has reported that DoCoMo is planning a flat rate service for 3G FOMA at JPY 3,900 a good 300 yen lower than KDDI’s.If it’s true, it’s awesome news for the consumer and cloudy skies for 3G internationally. We are not sure when the flat rates will start, but it must be only a matter of time before Vodafone K.K. responds.