Fujitsu to up 3G equipment output, target Europe

Japanese computer and electronics maker Fujitsu Ltd said on Monday it will boost production of third-generation or 3G equipment to 1,200 base stations per month and aim for 15 percent of the world market.

A Fujitsu spokesman said plans were under way to prepare for further growth in demand for 3G equipment, which is the fixed equipment that communicates with cellular phones.

Telecom carriers around the world are set to upgrade their wireless systems to 3G over the next few years to offer users high-speed Internet access, data, video and CD-quality music services.

Japan's top mobile operator NTT DoCoMo Inc has said it will begin 3G services at the end of May, and Fujitsu's competitor NEC Corp has been tapped as one of the main providers of base stations.

NEC expects to boost base station output to 1,000 units per month by May, and increase this further to 2,500 in 2002, an NEC spokewoman said.

Fujitsu's spokesman declined to confirm a report in business daily Nihon Keizai Shimbun that Fujitsu would spend five billion yen ($40 million) at a factory in Tochigi pRefecture north of Tokyo to boost base station production.

He said Fujitsu's 3G infrastructure joint venture with French telecoms equipment maker Alcatel , called Evolium, would sell Fujitsu's 3G equipment in Europe. The region is expected to follow Japan's lead in launching 3G services.

I-mode, the popular wireless Internet access service created by DoCoMo, will begin services in Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands by the end of the year through DoCoMo's partner in Europe, Dutch carrier KPN Telecom NV .

I-mode users can browse the Web and access e-mail on business card-sized screens, and it is often seen as an indicator of how 3G services could be deployed in Europe and the United States.