Japan’s University of Tsukuba is is working with Nortel to create a wireless mesh network which will cover a 230,000 sq metre area of the campus and enable outdoor broadband wireless access to the public internet and the university network. Nortel business partner Marubeni Solutions is handling network implementation.
A blast of press releases from all three mobile operators in Japan came though just now stating: “NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional subsidiaries, KDDI Corporation, Okinawa Cellular Telephone Company, and Vodafone K.K. today announced the basic procedures for customers to switch mobile phone operators under the Mobile Number Portability (MNP) system, which is scheduled for implementation by November 1, 2006.” (WWJ subscribers log in for details.)
InnoPath Software, Inc. today announced telecommunications industry veteran Shinichi Sawai as the president of InnoPath’s Japan operations. Sawai brings more than 20 years of expertise and knowledge in the Japanese telecommunications industry and will be responsible for continuing InnoPath’s positive growth of influence within the Japanese mobile device management (MDM) market. Sawai recently oversaw the successful promotion of global business for NTT Data Corporation, a system integrator group comprised of 100 subsidiaries and affiliates. Prior to NTT Data Corporation, he played a major role in developing 3G radio systems for Lucent Technologies, Japan.
Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry is considering a plan to allow mobile telephone subscribers to choose lower communications charges in return for paying more for handsets, ministry officials said Friday. At present, mobile phone carriers such as NTT DoCoMo Inc. sell handsets at steep discounts and cover the costs by adding charges to monthly communications rates, creating an unfair cost disadvantage for subscribers who use the same handsets for a long time. The study group is expected to work out a report on the pricing options in July.
Japan’s largest electronics component maker Kyocera Corp said its net profit in the year to March 2006 (FY05) surged 52 pct and it expects a further improvement this year thanks to a turnaround in demand for digital consumer products. Kyocera also pointed to a major improvement in profitability at its US cellular phone handset-making unit, Kyocera Wireless.
Japan’s No. 2 telecoms operator KDDI has said operating profit stagnated in the year to March as a strong performance by the mobile arm offset weak fixed-line operations. Net profit fell five percent to 190.6 billion yen as the company took a charge to write down the impaired value of its old cellular phone facilities. Revenue from its mobile business rose 8.6 percent to 2.51 trillion yen from a year earlier helped by the rising popularity of music downloading service, the expansion of subscribers and a revision in pricing plans.
