NTT DoCoMo May Up Launch Of 4th-Generation Service

date: April 17, 2001

NTT DoCoMo is considering launching its fourth-generation mobile phone service between 2006 and 2007 instead of 2010 as initially planned, Kyodo News reported the chairman of Japan's biggest mobile phone operator saying Tuesday.

The development of the service "must be moved forward" in light of rapid changes in the telecommunications business, Koji Ohboshi said at a lecture meeting, Kyodo reported.

NTT DoCoMo researchers consider it possible to develop the fourth-generation mobile phone system in 2007 or even 2006 depending on demands, he said.

Kyodo said the system will have a transmission speed of 30 megabits per second, 3,000 times faster than the current system, and will enable users to see sharp video on phones, including people on the other end of the line.

NTT DoCoMo is to begin its third-generation service at the end of May, Kyodo said.

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