The times, they are a changing> <GGGG>
NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile phone carrier, which will be the first in the world to
offer W-CDMA 3G services this May, said it had no plans to delay that launch.
However, Kohji Ohboshi, DoCoMo chairman, said on Tuesday that the roll-out of HDR, a
competing 3G technology developed by Qualcomm of the US, could force DoCoMo to re-think
its 3G service's cost structure.
"There is a possibility that Qualcomm's HDR will offer good value. We have to watch HDR
very closely and depending on how that unfolds, we will have to take measures to reduce
our costs," Mr Ohboshi noted.
In contrast to W-CDMA, which requires Japanese carriers to completely rebuild their
infrastructure, HDR offers high speeds on existing CDMA infrastructure.
KDDI, which aims to start offering HDR services at the end of next year, has said it will only
have to invest between 50 per cent and 70 per cent of what W-CDMA carriers will need to
spend to offer high-speed 3G services. |
