Willcom
Willcom

Willcom

Willcom Sees Strong Initial Sales

Willcom Sees Strong Initial Sales“Despite the high prices, there were huge line-ups waiting to buy the new Willcom PHSes,” said my Kiwi pal in an email last night. It looks like some of Willcom’s PHS phones appear to be selling well on the strength of flat-rate voice and data and handsets that are at least comparable to the high-end 3G cellular models from the Big Three carriers. Is this a hint of price destruction to come when the new licensees jump into the market in 2006?

“It normally takes about 20 minutes to get a new phone, but the wait for the new Willcom models on the first day of sales was over an hour and a half. A day or two later and the long lines have vanished,” added Keith Wilkinson, a long-time Japan hand and a keen watcher of all things electronic.

He was referring to the WX300K, WX310K and WX310SA, from Kyocera and Sanyo, as initially reported by WWJ in October, the first in a new series of PHS models. PHS is the shorter-range, non-cellular standard that has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity due to lower costs of usage and flat-rate pricing. According to Willcom, phones could be reserved starting on 11 November, and became or will become available in shops on the 18th (WX300K, silver and ochre), the 25th (WX310K, silver & pink; WX310SA, silver & red) and the 30th (WX310K, other color).

NTT DoCoMo Unveils 3G Push-To-Talk Phones

NTT DoCoMo Unveils 3G Push-To-Talk PhonesNTT DoCoMo have just the new 902i-series of 3G FOMA handsets, featuring the new "PushTalk" walkie-talkie-style communication service. PushTalk will run over the 3G packet communication network and will allow phones to be used like walkie-talkies for simultaneous, one-way communication from one 902i user to as many as four other 902i users. The service will be launched in the near future concurrently with the 902i-series. DoCoMo said they are planning to waive communications charges (5.25 yen for each one-way call) through the end of December 2005.

The announcement confirms recent rumours (reported on WWJ) that the giant carrier would market a walkie-talkie-style service, already popular in the US, to defend falling market share and respond to flat-rate voice and data products offered by KDDI/au, Vodafone Japan and Willcom.

Microsoft Scores First Windows Mobile Japan Deal

Microsoft Scores First Windows Mobile Japan DealWillcom, Microsoft and electronics maker Sharp are teaming up to deliver a corporate-targeted PDA WLAN handset for the Japanese market that will incorporate Windows Mobile 5.0 as its operating system. Scheduled for a December release, the W-Zero3 will operate over Willcom’s PHS (personal handyphone system) network.

Equipped for both voice and data, the handset makes full use of its Microsoft connection to juggle an assortment of PC-based functions over its handy slide-out QWERTY keyboard in addition to the standard mobile touch pad. Users can access PC-based email addresses, edit Microsoft and Excel documents on a bright, 3.7-inch VGA touch screen (the unit comes with a PDA-style stylus) and thumb through Excel, Word, PowerPoint and PDF files.

Willcom Launches Feature Packed Mobile Phones for Fall

Willcom Launches Feature Packed Mobile Phones for FallJapan’s Willcom will launch four PHS mobile handsets this November packed with many of the same functions as high-end DoCoMo or KDDI models. Functions for the WX310K and WX300K both by Kyocera; Sanyo’s WX310SA; and JRC WX310J include a PC document viewer, NetFront V3.3 internet browser, Intellisync for Outlook, fingerprint authentification, music player, pixel reader, macromedia flash, even Bluetooth — all at rates the bigger carriers will find hard to match.

PHS (personal handyphone system) subscriber numbers, long in free fall against 3G mobile carriers, are slowly climbing back from the abyss thanks to low-cost fixed-rate subscriber packages that are saving consumers bundles of yen. Currently Willcom has an inter-service flat call rate under 3000 yen ($26) per month. The company has announced they will introduce a flat rate mobile data fee of just 3,800 yen ($33) to coincide with the release of the new 300/310 series. PHS subscribers will be able to dig in to a full buffet of mobile services for around 6,700 yen ($58) a month.

Jupiter Japan to Become MVNO

Shares of Jupiter Telecommunications Co. rose as much as 2.9 percent after a report that Japan’s biggest cable television provider may begin its own cellular phone service using Vodafone Group Plc’s Japanese network. Jupiter’s stock rose 1.5 percent to 94,900 yen as of 9:58 a.m. in trading on the Jasdaq. The company may sign up with Vodafone K.K., the local unit of Newbury, England-based Vodafone, next year, said Jupiter President Tomoyuki Moriizumi in an interview with the the Yomiuri newspaper. Officials at Tokyo-based Jupiter were not available to comment on the report.

DoCoMo Planning Push To Talk Service

DoCoMo Planning Push To Talk ServiceRumours are circulating that NTT DoCoMo will introduce a Push-to-Talk (PTT) voice service by mid-October. Several Japanese trade journals have reported the as-yet-unconfirmed plans, saying that DoCoMo plans to market a cellular phone equipped with a chip made by US Qualcomm in October. With three new carriers set to enter the domestic market in 2006, the dominant telco is said to be considering how to defend its market share by offering new services and incentives. Opinions suggest the company will respond to the popular, though as yet still not widely used, flat-rate voice services launched by Willcom in May this year and the family free-call trial running on Vodafone from July through the end of October.