nf and all... Japan cdmaOne is up and running. Should be a nice pop to royalties from the MOT infrastructure for the current quarter (assuming recognition follows commercial start date).
Motorola CIG Announces First Commercial Launch of
Nationwide cdmaOne Cellular Network in Japan
Business Wire - July 14, 1998 10:45
ARLINGTON HEIGHTS, Ill.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--July 14, 1998--Commercial service of
Japan's first CDMA (Code Division Multiple Access) digital cellular network began today using
state-of-the-art infrastructure designed, manufactured and installed by Motorola, Inc.'s Cellular
Infrastructure Group (CIG) for DDI, one of Japan's leading cellular service providers. The CDMA
network also is known as cdmaOne(TM).
The commercial launch of the new network, which was tested during an extensive trial, is being
introduced today by three of DDI's regional service providers in 177 cities including Osaka, Kobe,
Kyoto, Nagasaki, Fukuoka and Naha, plus 440 towns and villages. Five other DDI regional service
providers plan commercial cdmaOne launches between December and April that will extend the
new service to more than 800 other cities, towns and villages.
And when IDO, another leading Japanese cellular service provider, launches its commercial
cdmaOne service in April 1999, the combined service territories of the two companies will
encompass nearly 2,000 cities, towns and villages nationally. Until then, DDI's cdmaOne customers
with dual-mode handsets will have nationwide coverage through an existing Motorola CIG-installed
analog network.
The Japanese government's original decision to support the selection of CDMA technology by its
cellular service providers was based on the nation's requirement for a more spectrally efficient RF
technology that provides high voice and call quality and the maximum capacity for future growth.
"In a country whose 126 million people are signing up for cellular service at a rate of almost one
million a month, cdmaOne technology is the optimal cellular solution because of its high-capacity
characteristics and superior voice and call quality," said Ron Hamma, vice president and general
manager of Motorola CIG's Japan Cellular Infrastructure Division.
The DDI/IDO nationwide network is comprised of Motorola CIG's SC(TM) family of base stations
and EMX(R) 5000 mobile switches. The EMX 5000 was developed jointly by Motorola CIG and
DSC Communications Corporation. DSC manufactures the switch and provides core platform
software while Motorola CIG develops the mobility applications software.
Six-sector technology, which nearly doubles a cell's capacity, plus state-of-the-art 8 Kbps
Enhanced Variable Rate Coders (EVRC), digital voice encoders that provide landline quality voice
transmission and significant capacity gains, are incorporated throughout the network. Unlike the
older 8 Kbps and 13 Kbps vocoder technology used by other cellular and Personal
Communications Service (PCS) operators, the new 8 Kbps EVRC also is exceptional in eliminating
background noise that may be heard during calls in dense urban areas, for example.
In a recent survey of more than 1,400 cdmaOne live trial participants, 80 percent said the
technology produced voice and call quality equal to or better than a conventional landline call, while
82 percent of those who currently use cellular phones said the cdmaOne technology's voice and call
quality was superior to all other cellular technologies.
DDI is the second largest carrier in Japan. Established in June of 1984, DDI operates eight regional
phone companies that provide both analog and Personal Digital Communications (PDC) cellular
service.
IDO was established in March of 1987 to offer mobile phone communication services. IDO's
service areas reach out from the heart of Tokyo and cover much of the central region of Honshu,
the principal island of Japan and the nation's most densely populated area.
Motorola CIG deployed the world's first commercial CDMA system in 1995 in Hong Kong.
Currently, the company has more than 100 agreements in 25 countries to provide commercial and
trial cdmaOne equipment across the globe.
Motorola CIG deployed its first cellular system, an analog TACS network, in 1989 in Japan for
DDI's Kansai Cellular Telephone in the Osaka region. The other seven DDI regions and IDO
followed later to provide nationwide coverage.
In 1991, Motorola CIG introduced NTACS (Narrowband TACS) into Japan when DDI began
NTACS service in Osaka and IDO later launched NTACS service in Tokyo and Nagoya. By
1992, Motorola CIG analog systems were serving subscribers nationwide in all eight regions served
by DDI and the two areas served by IDO. To accommodate the tremendous popularity of cellular
in Japan, operators began launching PDC, a new digital technology which offered system capacity
gains of about three times that of TACS.
In 1993, Motorola CIG began deploying PDC systems for the service provider Tu-Ka at 1.5 GHz
in the Tokyo and Tokai regions and at 800 MHz with DDI's other cellular telephone companies.
The nationwide buildout of PDC was completed by Motorola CIG in late 1996 with the commercial
launch of the Okinawa system.
Motorola, Inc. has been operating in Japan since opening its first office in 1962 in Tokyo. Motorola
CIG maintains sales, service and engineering support facilities in Japan, as well as a 3G research
and development center.
Motorola, Inc. is one of the world's leading providers of wireless communications, semiconductors,
and advanced electronic systems, components and services. Motorola's 1997 sales were $29.8
billion.
For more information on Motorola CIG, please visit the web site at mot.com. |
