Japanese telecoms giant, NTT DoCoMo, is set to become the world’s first group to offer the much-hyped third generation – or 3G – mobile phone system. The company this morning announced that it has applied for permission from the Japanese Government to launch the 3G wireless service on 1 October 2001.
The system has been branded as ‘FOMA’, which stands for Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access, and has been on trial since May this year, when the original full launch had been expected.
Delays in the launch of the service follow a wider failure of the telecoms industry to offer 3G services, despite them being lauded for the last couple of years as the next stage of development in mobile communications.
NTT DoCoMo’s FOMA will initially be available only in the Tokyo area, but is set to roll out through other major Japanese cities in the following months. The company estimates that it will have 150,000 3G users in the year to March and 6 million by March 2004.
FOMA will allow video communications with connection speeds of 64kbps (the average dial-up modem speed is 56kbps). Data can be downloaded at up to 384kbps. Computer files such as GIF and JPEG images and MIDI music files can be attached to text messages and the phones will have access to the internet.
However, analysts are worried that DoCoMo has not yet ironed out all of its technical issues and that the pricing structure may not be attractive to most consumers.
