3GNewsroom.com Weekly Round Up and Comments
David Yuen - December 9, 2002
Our round up and comments of the past week's main stories from
our editor.
******** THIS WEEK ********
- DoCoMo and KDDI argue over who is superior
- J-Phone aims 3G at international users
- Telstra's 3G network not impressive
- Datang disagrees with Qualcomm over patent
- Nokia to standardise new technology
****************************
>>> DoCoMo and KDDI argue over who is superior
Bitter words were exchanged at the ITU Telecom Asia 2002 between
executives of Japanese mobile operators DoCoMo and rival KDDI.
KDDI president Tadashi Onodera questioned whether the WCDMA services
from its rivals would attract customers. He said DoCoMo's new dual
mode phones will be too clunky, while criticising J-Phone was too
focused on the corporate market.
DoCoMo spokesman Toru Hinata said, "NTT DoCoMo is offering new
kinds of services, and KDDI is basically using the existing network."
FOMA has attracted fewer subscribers than expected since launching
the service over a year ago. Their handsets suffers from short battery
life, limited 3G coverage (80% of the population) and small range
of phones. To correct its defects, DoCoMo has lined up handsets
with longer battery life as well as dual mode PDC/WCDMA handsets
available in spring.
Onodera commented that consumers would be put off by the size and
weight of dual mode handsets since it would be larger than single
mode handsets. He said J-Phone would suffer in Japan because they
will use dual mode UMTS/GSM handsets and not PDC.
KDDI plans to upgrade its network to the cdma2000-1x EV-DO technology
by October next year, offering comparable speeds to FOMA.
Improving 3G coverage for DoCoMo is of little help even if its
networks are faster. Its image is damaged and there are few applications
that take advantage of the high speeds which users are willing to
use. Most 3G users download ringtones and logos for their phones
which could be done just as easily with 2G networks.
-- Japan's 3G war of words
http://www.telecomasia.net/telecomasia/article/articleDetail.jsp?id=40186
>>> J-Phone aims 3G at international users
Japanese mobile operator J-Phone has announced December 20 as the
launch date for its 3G mobile phone service. The company will offer
international roaming in GSM countries to give itself an edge over
its two rivals. The Nokia 6650 is just one of several dual mode
GSM/WCDMA handsets the operator will bring out. As well as using
dual mode handsets to roam, J-Phone users will be able to use GSM
only handsets by inserting their USIM card.
It's clear that J-Phone is targeting Japanese travelers with its
international roaming service. While at home it is slightly worrying
that J-Phone has not indicated that dual mode PDC/WCDMA handsets
would be available in the future. J-Phone did say it plans to extend
3G coverage to 99.7% of Japan's populated area by next summer. DoCoMo's
miserable 3G venture was due to lack of 3G coverage and dual mode
handsets, and J-Phone would do well not to fall into the same trap
as DoCoMo. Getting enough 3G coverage should be the aim for J-Phone
especially if they are not releasing PDC compatible dual mode handsets.
J-Phone's aim of selling 1 million 3G mobile handsets in 2003 is
considered by some as ambitious since its rival DoCoMo, which also
has a WCDMA network, slashed its subscriber target to 320,000 from
its already revised estimate of 1.38 million.
High prices of FOMA handsets has limited its appeal and so J-Phone
has said they would provide limited subsidies it pays retailers
to keep down the price of handsets.
>>> Telstra's 3G network not impressive
Telstra said it would launch Australia's first fully operational
3G mobile service for business customers. The Australian operator
has trialled services with 29 businesses and would now make the
services available to a wider segment of the corporate market.
Telstra business customers in selected locations can use CDMA 1X
compatible devices to check corporate email and browse intranet
and internet at speeds almost comparable to a desktop computer.
The launch did not impress Vodafone Australia managing director
Grahame Maher. He views 1XRTT as a 2.5G technology roughly equivalent
to its own GPRS offering, rather than a true 3G standard.
"If we end up in Australia with two 3G technologies, we are crazy
- but we might," said Mr Maher and believes WCDMA is the technology
of the future.
He said Vodafone would not share networks with Telstra. Most likely,
Vodafone would share networks with Hutchison as they are deploying
a WCDMA network and aiming for a commercial launch in March of next
year.
However, Telstra did spoil Hutchison's aim to be the first to launch
3G in Australia even if few agree with their network decision.
>>> Datang disagrees with Qualcomm over patent
Datang has rejected claims by Qualcomm to key intellectual property
within its TD-SCDMA standard.
"We believe that the TD-SCDMA standard in China uses a lot of core
IPR that was actually developed by the Chinese themselves," said
Zhou Huan , chairman of Datang. He added: "TD-SCDMA does not use
Qualcomm technology . . . "
It could mean the start of a legal battle to determine whether
Chinese companies would need to pay royalties to Qualcomm for the
use of the new technology. Certainly neither side would back down
in its stance over the issue. For China, is it a matter of pride
as well as costs.
Mr Zhou urges Beijing to reject foreign technologies and back the
home grown standard. "As the United States government supports the
CDMA standard and Europe supports GSM, our government should back
TD-SCDMA."
Meanwhile, the Chinese Minister of Information Industry Wu Jichuan
dismissed claims the government would impose TD-SCDMA on mobile
operators when it issues 3G licenses. Government support for TD-SCDMA
has led to speculation that China might delay issuing 3G licenses
until Datang is ready with the new technology. It is predicted that
network equipment and handsets for TD-SCDMA would become available
next year prior to commercial launch of services in 2004.
Mr Wu said licenses would be issued when there is sufficient demand.
"It really depends on the maturity of the technology and the market."
-- China to let market decide on 3G standard http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=
StoryFT&cid=1037872504500
--Datang rejects Qualcomm over China 3G standard
http://www.commsdesign.com/news/OEG20021205S0002
>>> Nokia to standardise new technology
Nokia said it will offer a new wireless network technology called
G-WCDMA by 2004. Don't worry, it's not a new standard that would
rival against WCDMA or cdma2000. The good news is that G-WCDMA is
designed to eventually unite existing 3G wireless technologies.
The US will auction new radio spectrum around mid-2004 and more
announcements will be made next year.
-- Nokia to add another flavor to 3G world
http://www.reuters.com/newsArticle.jhtml?type=topNews&storyID=1846625
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