Japan’s top mobile operator NTT DoCoMo said it will offer text-messaging with five other Asian countries and advanced sound systems on phones, after predicting tough times ahead for the market. The new service is part of the company’s effort to meet Japanese subscribers’ growing demand for exchanging short text messages both at home and overseas. In Japan, short text-messaging is a key function of mobile phones.
According to the company, NTT DoCoMo will participate in 3GSM World Congress 2005, an exhibition of the latest telecommunications technologies, services and R&D. The event will be held 14-17 February 2005 at the Palais des Festivals et des Congres in Cannes, France. The company says it will exhibit its world-leading 3G services, which are based on W-CDMA technology. Visitors can enjoy demonstrations of videophones and movies on the latest FOMA 901i-series terminals, learn about the technology supporting 3G networks, and see i-mode FeliCa mobile phones equipped with contactless FeliCa IC technology. NTT DoCoMo will also provide touch & try demonstrations of 3G services.
NTT DoCoMo and StarHub Ltd., today jointly announced a strategic partnership under which StarHub will launch i-mode™ services exclusively in Singapore by the fourth quarter of this year. With this agreement, i-mode will be available in 22 countries and regions through 14 operators. Under the DoCoMo-StarHub agreement, StarHub will offer i-mode services over both its 2.5G and 3G networks with DoCoMo providing its expertise in patents, branding, marketing, knowledge and technology.
Japan’s Big Three cellcos, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI, and Vodafone, released their Oct-Dec 2004 quarterly financials in the past fortnight, and there’s a lot of information to be digested. If the endless listings of multi-billion-yen profits bore you, then it might be interesting to take a look at some of the new technologies, service models, and data tariffs that were announced along with the financial results.
NTT DoCoMo have announced a live webcast on their IR website focusing on the new 700i-series handsets. The webcast will run Wednesday, 2 February 2005, at 17:45 JST. The presenter will be Kiyohito Nagata, VP and Managing Director of the Product Department; the title is: FOMA 700i-series Presentation. These new handsets are significant as they are expected to be smaller, lighter and less expensive than its current line-up of 3G phones thanks to some features being left out while retaining key 3G functions. Here are the webcast timings in other locations, courtesy of Time & Date.com.
NTT DoCoMo held an analysts meeting to annouce financial results for 3QFY2004 on 28 January. Some interesting points [PDF] include Big D’s plan to introduce a new line of low-budget FOMA 3G phones later in 2005. The “70X-series” includes a PDA-style dual-mode unit by Motorola and is based on a 2005 roadmap for cutting procurement costs by sourcing handsets from foreign vendors.
