3G wireless services stable for launch: DoCoMo

Reed Stevenson

TOKYO: NTT DoCoMo Inc. said on Tuesday the network for its high-speed third

generation (3G) wireless services was becoming more stable and it was on track

for a full commercial launch on October 1.

Shiro Tsuda, DoCoMo's executive vice president in charge of networks, said

that its four-month introductory 3G service is giving it a chance to iron out

software problems in its network and handsets. "The problems associated

with 3G are very complex but in no way do we think that they can't be

solved," Tsuda said in a rare interview.

DoCoMo, Japan's dominant mobile operator, had scaled back its May 30 launch

of the world's first 3G service, which offers faster speeds for Net-browsing and

downloading video and music to mobile phones, to a trial service.

Focus on DoCoMo, whose name means "anywhere" in Japanese, is

intense because its peers overseas have invested heavily in 3G, paying tens of

billions of dollars for licences and will also have to build new infrastructure.

"We wanted more time. In fact, it's now more than a month since the May 30

launch and we have seen the system become steadily more stable," said

Tsuda.

The 3G trial users - 2,000 individual and 2,500 corporate subscribers -

reported that the 3G phone's battery ran out within a day, that it went out of

range even within the designated trial service area of Tokyo's 23 wards and also

cut off calls abruptly.

Trial users do not pay for the handsets, which are made by NEC Corp and

Matsushita Communication Industrial Co Ltd., and are only charged for

transmission fees. From October, the phones are expected to cost around 100,000

yen ($806.4) each and users will pay basic fees, which could be more than the

average 8,000 yen that each user pays now for existing 2G services.

Main problems resolved



Tsuda, who was a key player in the decision to delay, said there were
several issues with switching and the wireless functions but DoCoMo had been

able to resolve the major problems in the last month. Tsuda identified two major

problems. One concerned the switching system that directs calling and data

connections, and the other had to do with "handovers" when cell phones

move from one base station area into another.

"One of the challenges of the October 1 launch is to ensure that the

switching system can deal with an increased traffic load. We need to make sure

it can deal with a higher traffic flow," he said. Capacity was being built

to handle anticipated subscriber numbers a year ahead, he said.

"The problem with handovers has mainly to do with the need to make

improvements in geographically difficult areas. This must be done on-site and we

must make finer adjustments." Such problems had mainly do with software, he

said, adding that the proportion of expertise needed for wireless technology was

shifting toward software on a yearly basis.

"Finding and solving problems related to software is becoming our

biggest issue. Especially for handsets." Apart from basic technologies such

as switching and handovers, DoCoMo has added to the complexity of its phones and

system because they will be able to access the Internet and download multimedia

content.

DoCoMo grabbed the attention of competitors, investors and Japan's

gadget-conscious consumers in the last year and half by nabbing more than 25

million subscribers for its i-mode service, which allows Web browsing on credit

card-sized screens on mobile phones.

Number one



Despite the hurdles that DoCoMo says it is facing with 3G, Tsuda said the
wireless carrier is still at the forefront of technology. "Among carriers,

I believe we are at the top in terms of technology. But it's only been a short

time since handsets have evolved in the way that we see now."

While vendors such as Nokia and Ericsson have made a name for themselves as

suppliers of wireless networks and handsets, DoCoMo shares in the credit for the

technology with its two main vendors NEC and Matsushita Communication Industrial

(MCI) because of their joint research development.

He said DoCoMo was planning to introduce "dual mode" phones that

could work on both 2G and 3G networks, but did not say when. For the October 3G

launch, Tsuda said it was likely DoCoMo will begin selling the three trial model

types, but added: "We are hoping that other domestic handset vendors will

join in."

Still, he said, DoCoMo had to "scale back some of the features we had

been hoping to put into the 3G phones". The standard model made by NEC,

which will be replaced for an upgrade later this month, will not be replaced

again before October, Tsuda said.

He added, that some of the data transmission terminals for PCs made by MCI

might be replaced for testing to see whether they can handle faster transmission

rates. DoCoMo shares, which closed at 2.38 per cent higher at 2.15 trillion yen

on Tuesday, have climbed 9.13 per cent higher since the beginning of the year

while the benchmark Nikkei 225 average is down 7.02 per cent.

(C) Reuters Limited 2001.