TOKYO-Citing a delay in hardware development, Japan Telecom Co. Ltd. said it would delay the deployment of third generation services from this December until summer 2002. The delay will place Japan’s third-largest operator more than a year behind market leader NTT DoCoMo Inc.’s 3G deployment, scheduled for May.
“It’s very unfortunate that we will not be able to better serve our customers,” Japan Telecom President Hauro Murakami told Reuters. Putting a positive spin on the announcement, the company said the delay will allow it to conform to the latest international standards set by the Third Generation Partnership Project, instead of having to upgrade handsets written to older standards.
