Since October 2001, when DoCoMo turned on its 3G network, the company’s revenue from data services has risen 27.9 percent, with customers now spending 1,970 yen, or $18.69, a month on average. Data now makes up nearly one-quarter of DoCoMo customers’ monthly bills. But the extra sales did not make up for the decline in revenue from voice calls over that period. As a result, overall spending by DoCoMo customers has fallen 6.9 percent in the past three years.
Open registration for dotMP has commenced and a wide spectrum of business and personal users from Europe, America and Asia have registered their .mp domain names and published mobile content on their dotMP sites. “dotMP is all about the creation of unique online identities and publishing Web and mobile content. We expected a diverse group of users but not this much diversity this quickly,” said Gib Bintliff, Saipan DataCom’s President.
DaTang Mobile successfully demonstrated the first TD-SCDMA Video Phone in Beijing this past week. The video phone, using the Dilithium Networks market leading 3G video telephony protocol stack, achieved high quality end-to-end video telephony with 15 frames/second video communications on 64 kb/s bearer. In addition to the basic video telephony function, DaTang Mobile also demonstrated the “Picture in Picture”, “Picture Shelter” and “Voice Shelter” enhanced functions. The demonstration also featured Dilithium Networks patent pending AnswerFast technology, which significantly reduces the session set-up time.
In yesterday’s WWJ Newsletter I mentioned the news last month that DoCoMo had developed a software platform for FOMA 3G phones — comprising two options: both Linux and Symbian (sorry Bill!), adding “This is big news.” WWJ’s ever-keen Digital Media Director Lawrence Cosh-Ishii pointed out last night that, in December 2003, we carried a video report from Big D’s year-end presser wherein then-CEO Tachikawa said: “Simply speaking, Microsoft is not offering an open standard and an open minded approach” and that DoCoMo “prefers Symbian and possibly Linux for 3G OS.” Never let it be said that WWJ editors miss a chance to say We Told You So!
Japan’s NEC Corporation has selected Ericsson Mobile Platforms for use in the launch of its next generation global WCDMA/GPRS handsets. The first products to be made available within the first half of FY2005 (April 2005 – September 2005), will be based on the Ericsson U100 platform. NEC feels that with the addition of Ericsson Mobile Platforms to its portfolio, NEC will be ready to offer a wider range of 3G mobile terminals to meet the various demands of 3G mobile operators and end users.
Hong Kong mobile network operator SmarTone Telecommunications Holdings said it has signed an exclusive agreement with Japan’s Sanyo Electric to develop 3G handsets for Hong Kong customers. The first Sanyo 3G handset exclusive to SmarTone, SX813, will be available in early 2005, but the two companies will introduce more models in 2005, said Sanyo Electric Senior Officer Takenori Ugari. SmarTone and Sanyo didn’t reveal the price nor the number of handsets to be sold under their agreement.
