NTT DoCoMo Aims to Use PHS to Boost Sluggish Demand for 3G Services
August 26, 2002 (TOKYO) -- NTT DoCoMo Inc. has started bringing out a succession
of new video phone models in a serious bid to develop the market for video
communications based on mobile phones.
DoCoMo's aim is to appeal to users by offering new video phones -- also known as
"visual phones" in Japan -- with features that are not available on the handsets of its
rivals. The company also hopes that more widespread use of video communications will
help stimulate greater demand for its FOMA third-generation (3G) service, which has
been struggling to attract users ever since its launch.
Using PHS to Create a Model for FOMA
In July this year, NTT DoCoMo launched sales of two new video phone models. The
first, which became available on July 16, was the SH2101V, a personal digital assistant
(PDA)-type FOMA terminal. That was followed on July 17 by a PHS phone handset, the
Lookwalk P751V. (See photo: left, PHS visual phone "Lookwalk P751V"; right,
FOMA-capable PDA "SH2101V")
The Lookwalk is of particular interest. Until the Lookwalk appeared, the only video
phones that DoCoMo had been marketing were two FOMA models: the P2101V and
D2101V. So the Lookwalk has become DoCoMo's first PHS-based video phone.
The Lookwalk is completely free of all the problems that are dogging FOMA handsets.
It has an unrestricted service area -- it can be used almost anywhere in the country --
and its battery life between charges is up to 300 hours when in standby mode.
And fees for video communications are much lower than those for FOMA. For example,
in the daytime on a weekday, video data can be sent from one PHS phone to another for
as little as 10 yen per minute, while similar data being sent from one FOMA phone to
another costs users 43 yen or more per minute.
The Lookwalk also has functions for sending and receiving video e-mails. The only
FOMA model equipped with such capability is the new SH2101V launched before the
Lookwalk. And remember that the SH2101V is a PDA, not a real cellular phone handset.
So, strictly speaking, at the present time there is still no FOMA phone on the market
that can handle video mail.
In other words, although the Lookwalk is a PHS handset, it appears to offer users
everything that FOMA phones should be able to provide, but still can't. However,
DoCoMo seems to be focused much more on FOMA than on PHS.
NTT DoCoMo President Keiji Tachikawa said, "There are few users right now, but
FOMA is a system that we will use for the next 20 years." This means that DoCoMo is
to gradually shift its cellular phone services from personal digital cellular (PDC), the
current standard technology, to FOMA.
So why is it that DoCoMo continues to bring out new PHS products?
Using PHS as a bridge to FOMA
As of the end of June, there were 114,500 subscribers to the FOMA service. That's not
even 0.3 percent of the number of people using PDC phones in Japan, and it means that
FOMA is still failing to attract users, except the most avid technology enthusiasts. So it
is difficult for DoCoMo to increase the number of FOMA subscribers just by launching
new handsets. And it also means that users are unlikely to start offering more positive
feedback anytime soon.
The main reasons for FOMA's lukewarm reception from phone users are that batteries
need recharging too often and that the service area is too small.
FOMA employs wireless W-CDMA technology, which involves much more complex
processing operations than conventional PDCs. Therefore, handsets draw power from
the batteries much faster. Of all the FOMA phones already on the market, the one with
the longest battery life offers only 55 hours in standby mode.
The FOMA network also is being built from scratch, meaning that its service area is still
inferior to that for PDC phones. As of the end of July, only around 69 percent of Japan's
population was covered by the FOMA network.
Because of these troubles with FOMA, NTT DoCoMo has turned its attention to PHS
as a stop-gap measure. In stark contrast with FOMA, PHS handsets consume little
power, and the PHS service area infrastructure is already in place. PHS also has the
advantage of being able to transmit data at 64bps, but unlike PDC, it can be used to
send video data. So the PHS-based Lookwalk is set to become NTT DoCoMo's
harbinger handset until FOMA's battery/service area problems are resolved.
J-Phone's Imminent Entry into Video Phone Market Prompts DoCoMo to Act
Since the launch of the Lookwalk phone, NTT DoCoMo has wasted no time in pushing
full-steam ahead with its plans for FOMA.
According to Tachikawa, better batteries will become available this fall -- capable of
storing twice as much power as current ones -- and phones will then last for between
100 hours and 200 hours (in standby mode) between recharges.
NTT DoCoMo also has plans to put another two or three new FOMA video phone
handsets on the market. NEC Corp. and Matsushita Communication Industrial Co., Ltd.,
are two of the manufacturers that are known to be developing video phones, with a
view toward launching them sometime before the end of the year. And these new
phones will almost certainly include video mail, as well as plain video phone functions.
The service area problem is also being dealt with. By the end of March 2003, DoCoMo
says, the FOMA network will cover 90 percent of the population. With more handsets
available and with a more comprehensive service area, there is a chance that FOMA
might finally start catching on with users.
DoCoMo's competitors also are showing signs that they are preparing to enter the
video phone market. J-Phone Co., Ltd., for example, is to launch a 3G service in
December. J-Phone's new service will, like FOMA, be based on W-CDMA technology.
The J-Phone 3G service is very likely to feature video phones. If video phones become
more and more common, service operators are sure to benefit, as users will start to
exchange their existing handsets for newer video-capable models en mass.
It could be that more widespread adoption of 3G mobile telephony -- with video as its
main selling point -- is about to start becoming a reality.
nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com
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This is HUGE.
This is a remarkable admission of FAILURE.
This is perhaps more damaging to UMTSwCDMA prospects that the recent Euro delays and defections. |
