w-cdma
w-cdma

w-cdma

DoCoMo 3G Overtakes KDDI

As WWJ predicted last month, the latest Telecommunication Carriers Association numbers confirm that DoCoMo has indeed gone on to ‘Grab [the] 3G Lead from KDDI.’ OK — so the news isn’t startling given that the trend for the past several months has been growing in DoCoMo’s favor. The news that has been below almost everyone’s radar screens, however, is the exceptional performance of upstart PHS carrier Willcom and its success in attracting new customers compared to third-place 3G carrier Vodafone. The folks over at Willcom posted a net subscriber gain of 80,200 in January compared to Vodafone’s paltry 17,600 result.

W-CDMA 900-MHz Calls Achieved

Nortel and QUALCOMM have successfully completed HSDPA calls in the 900-MHz band, a spectrum capable of delivering wireless broadband such as mobile TV, video-on-demand, video telephony and DSL-like services to rural areas. W-CDMA in the 900-MHz band is a cost-effective way to deliver nationwide high-speed wireless coverage. It achieves a 60-percent reduction in cell sites required to serve rural areas and delivers improved quality of service in urban areas by enhancing in-building penetration by 25 percent, according to the technology’s proponents.

DoCoMo: 3G Phone with Windows OS

NTT DoCoMo and High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) announced today they have agreed to market HTC 3G FOMA handsets with Microsoft Windows Mobile 5.0 operating systems. DoCoMo and HTC aim to launch commercial sales sometime in the second half of 2006. The phones will be targeted at corporate users and offer enterprise services such as synchronization with MS Windows Server and MS Exchange Server. The phones will also provide dual-mode W-CDMA and GSM/GPRS connectivity, Wireless LAN and a QWERTY keyboard. (Looks like another nice boost for Microsoft in the Japan mobile space — Eds.)

DoCoMo Orders Axalto USIM's

Axalto announced it has been selected by DoCoMo to supply advanced USIM cards for DoCoMo 3G services. The Axalto USIM proved to be an ideal vehicle to solve national and international roaming issues of DoCoMo, while providing strong support to its 3G migration process. Designed to ensure the continuity of service for DoCoMo’s subscribers regardless of the network technologies, DoCoMo users will be able to connect with PDC network when in Japan, as well as internationally with W-CDMA and GSM networks when overseas.

DoCoMo to Grab 3G Lead from KDDI

DoCoMo to Grab 3G Lead from KDDIIn the 1997 movie Titanic, Thomas Andrews, the ship’s designer, states: “From this moment, no matter what we do, Titanic will founder… It is a mathematical certainty.” In the same light, it’s interesting to note today’s news from NTT DoCoMo, stating the carrier surpassed 20 million 3G FOMA subscribers on 29 December 2005. If we assume the same rate of growth this month, and compare to KDDI’s presumed rate of growth in December and January, we can make a pretty good guess as to when Big D will grab 3G lead. More importantly, what does this mean for the market?

(Excerpt from full article) We can also expect January to be a good month for phone sales — for all carriers — due to a rather significant practice in Japanese culture: o-toshidama. This is the practice of giving gifts of money to children and teens. The money is usually given in little decorative envelopes, and according to 1999 data from the Kumon Children’s Research Institute, an average child received around 40,000 yen (I guess it’s more now). Most significantly: “Most save the money, [but] others spend it on relatively expensive computer games, clothes, and CDs.” And phones, we suspect.

DoCoMo Makes Move in Korea

Confirming rumours from earlier this week, NTT DoCoMo and KT Freetel announced today they have agreed on a comprehensive strategic alliance including equity participation. DoCoMo will invest approximately 65.5 bn yen to acquire a 10-percent stake in KTF through a third-party allotment of new shares and purchase of KTF treasury stock by the end of December 2005. This alliance enables both companies to provide better services to customers in their respective markets through the development and promotion of mobile technologies and applications. The nationwide deployment and early stabilization of KTF’s W-CDMA network, with DoCoMo’s technical support, is considered the key to achieving these objectives.