The government-affiliated Communications Research Laboratory and private-sector companies will team up with Chinese research institutions and firms this autumn on a project to develop a technology standard for 4G mobile telephony, sources familiar with the matter said. NTT Communications Corp, KDDI Corp, Hitachi, Ltd, NEC Corp and Fujitsu Ltd will also be among the Japanese participants.
GRIC Communications, Inc., a leading provider ofsecure, managed broadband and global remote access solutions for enterprises and serviceproviders, today announced a milestone Wi-Fi agreement with JAPAN TELECOM, one of Japan’slargest telecommunications service providers. The agreement, the first Wi-Fi roamingagreement by JAPAN TELECOM with a partner, provides 1.7 million customers of JAPANTELECOM’s Open Data Network (ODN), the company’s ISP service, with seamless, global mobile broadband service, “powered by GRIC.” JAPAN TELECOM customers will have access to the GRIC TierOne Network(TM), which includes the world’s largest mobile broadbandfootprint, using the GRIC-branded mobile office client.
China United Telecommunications Corp. (China Unicom), one of the largest wireless network operators in the world, has awarded the Phase III expansion of its Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 1X networks and upgrading of Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) networks in the capital city and 12 leading provinces of China to Motorola’s Global Telecom Solutions Sector (GTSS), a leader in integrated communications solutions. The CDMA2000 1X Phase III Expansion Project Confirms Motorola as Biggest Network Vendor to World’s Third Largest Mobile Network Operator.
Japanese companies are rapidly commercializing the so-called Net Kaden system for electronic control and monitoring of homes through links with mobile phone and high-speed broadband systems. Toshiba Corp. and Matsushita Electric Industrial Co. are already marketing segments of a Net Kaden network. Hitachi Ltd. plans to debut one on the domestic market next spring and Sony Corp. is preparing a home server using new semiconductors.
Japan’s second biggest mobile phone maker Panasonic has said that it will launch an IP mobile phone with a wireless LAN function in early 2004. Mikio Mizutani, Panasonic’s EVP has drawn up a company strategy to boost the Matsushita Electric Industrial subsidiary’s IP business strategy for next year.
Toshiba Corp and Fujitsu Ltd each have developed a new mobile phone with connectivity based on “Bluetooth,” a technology specification for short-range radio links, and received the Bluetooth logo certification needed for their sales of the phones. Their movement is believed to be directed at the Japanese market. There are not many Bluetooth-enabled cell phones in the Japanese market — Sony Corp launched the “C413S” in 2001 and Sharp Corp already offers a PDA terminal and a PHS terminal based on Bluetooth.
