Japan's DDI announces plans for next-generation mobile phones
TOKYO, May 12 (AFP) -
Japan's DDI Corp. announced Friday it will use the US-developed cdma2000 technology for its next generation of sophisticated mobile telephones, to be launched in 2002.
By doing so, it rejected the wide-band code division multiple access (W-CDMA) technical standard, which will be used to transmit sound and data over mobile telephones in Japan and probably Europe as well.
Japan's dominant mobile phone company, NTT DoCoMo Inc., and Sweden's LM Ericsson Telephon AB led the development of W-CDMA technology.
But the US-based cdma2000 technology is compatible with DDI's existing cdmaOne technology, sharply cutting the launch costs, said DDI president Yusai Okuyama.
"By making the best use of existing facilities for cdmaOne services ... we can minimize the investment needed to launch the 3G (third or next generation) service and maintain cashflow," he told a news conference.
"As we already have accumulated operational know-how on the cdmaOne service, we can provide stable services for cdma2000 from an early stage, as this technology is the enhanced version of cdmaOne," Okuyama said.
"By adopting the cdma2000 technology for the new service, we can differentiate ourselves from those carriers which use W-CDMA technology," he added.
The cost-effective cdma2000 technology was developed by the US mobile telephone firm Qualcomm Inc. to provide better voice quality along with high-speed multimedia services.
"There is high possibility that many areas in the United States and Asia will shift to cdma2000 from cdmaOne, and we judged that there will be enough competitiveness in terms of infrastructure and price competition," said Okuyama.
NTT DoCoMo and the nine telephone companies operating under Japan Telecom Corp. have decided to employ W-CDMA technology when the next generation cellular phone service starts in Japan next spring.
Okuyama denied that potential trade friction was the main reason for its choice of the US-designed cdma2000 technology, saying the firm has "screened various points" such as business feasibility and market potential.
Under an application lodged with the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications, DDI's cellular phone units -- IDO Corp. and nine cellular groups -- will launch the service in September 2002 and expand the service area to cover 90 percent of Japan's population.
For its part, Japan Telecom will launch the service in and around Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya in December 2001, and in other parts of Japan in October 2002, while NTT DoCoMo is planning to launch its service at the end of May 2001 to cover Tokyo, Yokohama and Kawasaki.
Tokyo Mitsubishi Securities Co. Ltd. senior analyst Toshiaki Iba said DDI made a wise decision.
"As the fourth generation mobile phone services may begin as early as 2005, it is a wise choice to preserve business resources until then and minimize any investment that is needed to launch the 3G service," he said. |
