DoCoMo on Track to Begin New Cell-Phone Services, Official Says

date: 27th February 2001, source by: Bloomberg

NTT DoCoMo Inc., the world's No. 2 mobile phone company, is on schedule to begin a new generation of services in May, Chairman Kouji Ohboshi said.

DoCoMo will be the first in the world to offer the new services, which will offer high-speed Internet access. Companies worldwide have spent billions on licenses for so-called third- generation services and plan to spend even more on networks.

Even so, rollout of the new wireless services on time is not assured. Qualcomm Inc., developer of a mobile-phone technology widely used by U.S. and South Korean companies, said last week the services may be delayed in Europe. Qualcomm Chief Executive Irwin Jacobs said the release of the newer phone technology in Europe may be delayed as much as two years.

``We need to expose the new service to the market first and then get feedback from the users,'' DoCoMo's Ohboshi said. ``We should interact with users to see what they think of the service. We're also open to (Irwin) Jacob's criticism as well.''

Deutsche Banc Alex Brown analyst Brian Modoff last week cut his rating on Qualcomm to ``buy'' from ``strong buy'' on concern spending for wireless equipment is slowing. Jacobs's comments were compounded by news from Motorola Inc., the world's second-largest cell-phone maker, that it's facing an inventory glut.

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