LG Telecom & Kddi Agree on Installment of Worldwide Cdma Belt
sg.news.yahoo.com
Tuesday October 16, 10:15 AM
TOKYO, Oct 16 Asia Pulse - South Korea's LG Telecom and Japan's KDDI Corp. agreed Tuesday to set up a "worldwide code division multiple access [CDMA] belt" through a wide range of technology exchanges and marketing cooperation.
The agreement came on the heels of a May memorandum of understanding [MOU] reached between the Korean firm and KDDI on bilateral comprehensive cooperation.
LG and KDDI, Japan's second-largest telecommunications operator, use the cdma2000 platform for third-generation [3G] mobile services in their own countries.
The format is an alternative to the W-CDMA platform touted by handset manufacturers such as Nokia and Ericsson.
Under the CDMA belt scheme, the two partners plan to make an alliance with CDMA operators in China, North America, Latin America, Australia, Southeast Asia and India.
Shunsuke Oyama, head of KDDI's strategic planning operation, said, "KDDI formed a strategic alliance with China Unicom, which engages in CDMA business in China and will pursue similar arrangements with CDMA carriers in other countries."
In 3G mobile services, cdma2000 technology carriers have an edge over companies involved in W-CDMA technology because cdma2000 requires less investment than W-CDMA and comparatively maintains the integrity of technology, he added.
Lee Eun-seung, chief of LG's overseas business team, expressed hope that the two companies will maintain a strong partnership in the 3G mobile service market.
In particular, LG and KDDI plan to cooperate in launching an advanced car navigation service known as Telematics. At present, LG and KDDI work with Hyundai Motor Co. and Toyota Motors Corp., respectively, in a bid to commercialize the service utilizing 3G services.
Other areas in the LG-KDDI agreement include exchanges of contents and cooperation in data services.
KDDI holds a market share of 26.4 per cent in the Japanese mobile phone service market, following market leader NTT DoCoMo Inc. with 56.8 per cent and trailed by third-place J-Phone group with 15.6 per cent.
(Yonhap) |
