Network Technology
Network Technology

Network Technology

DoCoMo Plows $343.8 Million into 3.5G HSDPA

Signaling its seriousness to get its HSDPA (high-speed downlink packet access) network and concomitant mobile/smart phones up and transmitting in 2005, NTT DoCoMo said today that it is plowing 37 billion yen ($343.8 million) into 5 Japanese handset and network builders AND Motorola Japan Inc. What is immediately surprising about this move is that once again, as with yesterday’s media extravaganza on the new 900i phones, long-term handset partners Toshiba, and handset maker and major infrastructure builder Sony Ericsson are both missing. But it now looks like DoCoMo feels its time to start really kicking in the efficiencies to differentiate itself from KDDI’s WIN service both in terms of performance and, more critically, to faster recoup the considerable investment the company has made in 3G as it probably gears up for a packet price war with KDDI and Vodafone KK. And then, there is the leveraging of Motorola’s Linux links too!

Hong Kong 3G Launch Set for January

Hong Kong conglomerate Hutchison Whampoa said it will launch its 3G mobile telephone services in the territory next month. The company’s managing director Canning Fok did not give an exact date for the 3G services but announced details on pricing. The company set the price of new 3G handsets at 4,380 Hong Kong dollars (560 US dollars) and monthly subscription fees at 238-558 dollars, Fok told reporters. Hutchison will be the first operator to launch a 3G service in Hong Kong.

EAccess to Join TD-CDMA 3G Services

EAccess Ltd applied on Dec 3 to Japan’s Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Posts and Telecommunications (MPHPT) for a license to build test stations for a mobile telecommunications service adopting TD-CDMA. EAccess, an asymmetric digital subscriber line (ADSL) operator, aims to launch a wireless ADSL service specializing in data communications. The company has applied for several base stations in the Tokyo metropolitan area.

China Unicom Selects Proxim Wi-Fi

Proxim Corporation, a leader in wireless networking equipment for Wi-Fi and wide area networks, announced recently that Guangdong Unicom, a provincial subsidiary of China Unicom Limited, has selected Proxim’s Tsunami MP point-to-multipoint broadband wireless products to establish China’s largest high capacity wireless network, delivering Voice over IP and Internet connections throughout China’s Guangdong province.

NetGear Partners for Asian Wi-Fi

NetGear has teamed with Legend Group in China and Softbank BB in Japan to sell Wi-Fi products, an effort to increase sales in Asia–the world’s second largest market for Wi-Fi networking gear. The company sees the Asian market as a major opportunity to improve its position worldwide. Japan, China and South Korea are the top three countries in the Asia-Pacific region in terms of gear sales, according to research firm Synergy Research Group.