w-cdma
w-cdma

w-cdma

Vodafone K.K. to Offer 3G W-CDMA Roaming in South Korea

Vodafone K.K. announced today that starting 7 June 2005 it will offer roaming services on SK Telecom Co., Ltd.’s W-CDMA network for its 3G customers, making it possible for them to use in South Korea the handsets that they normally use at home. The agreement marks the first time for an operator in Japan to offer roaming in South Korea on a W-CDMA network. Vodafone K.K.’s Global Roaming Service lets customers use Vodafone K.K. 3G handsets in countries and regions abroad in addition to Japan. Previously, customers traveling to South Korea had to rent dedicated CDMA handsets to roam on local CDMA networks. With the opening of W-CDMA networks in South Korea, however, it is now possible for customers using Vodafone K.K. 3G handsets to take their handsets for use in South Korea, a top-ranking travel destination for Japan residents with over 2.4 million travelers visiting in 2004.

Vodafone K.K. Applies for 1.7GHz W-CDMA 3G Field Test License

Vodafone K.K. announced that today it has applied to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for licenses to operate W-CDMA experimental radio stations on the 1.7GHz frequency band, marking the first time in Japan for an existing 3G mobile operator to apply for a field test license on this frequency band. After receiving a field test license, Vodafone K.K. plans to conduct field tests for approximately 6 months in Chiba prefecture to investigate radio wave propagation characteristics and building shadowing effects, as well as measure in-building penetration loss while operating on the 1.7GHz frequency band.

Vodafone K.K. Launches Disaster Message Board Service

Vodafone K.K. announced that on 27 April it will launch a service that lets customers confirm personal safety information concerning their family and friends via the Vodafone live! mobile internet service in the event of a major disaster, such as a large earthquake. For the two week period of 27 April to 11 May, Vodafone K.K. will offer a trial version of its Disaster Message Board Service so customers can get familiar with the service details and methods of use. After this initial period, the same trial service is scheduled to be available on the first day of every month (excluding the month of January).

DoCoMo Unveils Motorola Tri-Band 3G Smartphone

DoCoMo Unveils Motorola Tri-Band 3G SmartphoneNTT DoCoMo has partnered with Motorola to roll-out a hybrid FOMA/PDA handset with global roaming, full Internet browsing, PC mail and wireless LAN access. Launched today at a low key Tokyo press conference, the new M1000 [.jpg image] is aimed squarely at Japanese business users looking to integrate a lot of functionality into one pocket-sized package. DoCoMo has dumped both i-mode and its new FeliCa applications to make room for a tri-band system (W-CDMA, GSM and GPRS) and Internet access via Opera’s 7.5 browser. The company’s trophy handset opens Microsoft Word, Excel and PowerPoint programs as well as PDF files, and allows multiple email functions including POP and IMAP email. It’s also compatible with 80211.b WiFi (Wow!). While equipped with pre-requisite Bluetooth compatibility, this new Motorola is not loaded with DoCoMo’s flagship product, i-mode access — a first for a major handset since 1999, as far as we can determine. Will this be a cool crossbreed or Frankenstein monster?

Vodafone K.K. to donate handset recycling proceeds to WWF Japan

Vodafone K.K. announces today that it has decided to donate proceeds from recycled mobile handsets that are collected at Vodafone shops to the World Wide Fund for Nature Japan (WWF Japan), starting 1 April 2005 for one year. In addition to reducing waste to minimise impact on the environment, Vodafone K.K. has been able to contribute to the effective use of resources through its mobile handset recycling activities. Vodafone K.K. began donating proceeds from handset recycling in fiscal 2002, and donated 20 million yen and 18.4 million yen in fiscal 2002 and 2003 respectively.

Vodafone KK Expands Roaming Areas

Vodafone K.K. announced today that it will expand global roaming service areas for Vodafone live! and mobile data communications to 51 countries and regions as of 30 March 2005. Since launching its 3G service in December 2002, Vodafone K.K. has tied up with operators outside Japan providing W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS network services. In addition to offering voice roaming, Vodafone K.K. has also enabled its customers to access mobile data communications services abroad with the same Vodafone K.K. handset that they use in Japan.