Carriers
Carriers

Carriers

Japanese Carrier Plans WiMax Network

ARNnet; A new Japanese telecommunications carrier plans to launch a national wireless network by the end of 2006 that will offer voice and data services using the emerging WiMax network technology combined with city-based WLANs (wireless LANs), a company backing the carrier said on Wednesday. The WiMax network will consist of about 200,000 access points (Must be a typo! – Ed.) each with a range of up to 3 kilometers. They will offer connection speeds of around 75 Mbps (bits per second) and cover 80 percent of Japan’s population by the end of 2007, according to Kaori Ogawa, a spokeswoman for Heisei Denden, a Tokyo-based communications carrier.

New DoCoMo 3G Micro Fuel Cell

DoCoMo announced that the company together with Fujitsu Labs has developed a new and improved prototype methanol fuel cell for 3G FOMA handsets. The new prototype enables eight hours of continuous talk time, three times the capacity of the existing prototype, while weighing the same, 190g. The device is expected to greatly extend usage time once it goes into commercial production. Further work on the prototype is expected to be completed by the end of March 2006.

DoCoMo Expands 3G Global Roaming

DoCoMo announced today that they will expand FOMA 3G international roaming and videophone services in Europe and Asia. Starting from 12 July, WORLD WING and WORLD WALKER users in Seoul, Korea will be able to use the FOMA N900iG handset for voice communications and accessing i-mode. Germany will join the lineup of countries where DoCoMo users can enjoy videophone roaming services, followed by Italy on 26 July.

Vodafone K.K. Acquires New 3G Trial License for 1.7GHz Spectrum

Vodafone K.K. announced today that it has acquired a preliminary license from the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications, which was applied for on 27 April 2005, to operate W-CDMA experimental radio stations on the 1.7GHz frequency band, marking the first time for an existing mobile operator in Japan to receive such a license. Vodafone K.K. currently offers 3G services on the 2GHz frequency band. However, due to an increasing number of 3G customer contracts and the proliferation of packet communication flat-rate services, a rapid increase in 3G traffic is expected, which would make current 2GHz frequency band capacity insufficient.

DoCoMo Reports Customer Data Loss

According to this statement [in Japanese] NTT DoCoMo lost customer data records for 48,000 people in the Kanto region. The missing hard-disc, reported to police June 27, had client information such as “Contractor Name” and “Phone Number” however did not contain “Customers Address”, “Credit Card Number” or “Password Details” the company said.

DoCoMo in Global Terminal Deal

i-mode global allianceDoCoMo’s i-mode goes for the globe! Japan’s leading cellco and its eight alliance partners in Europe, Taiwan and Australia agreed on their first joint procurement tie-up for i-mode handsets. Korea’s LG Electronics will fill what promises to be a very large order for their camera-equipped, clamshell, L342i model with embedded antenna and Java capability. LG has made strong inroads into the European mobile marketplace. A report by IDC on Europe’s mobile phone market showed LG with.. (WWJ subscribers log in to read full story; keywords include terminal partners, i-mode licensees, subscriber count.)