TOKYO-J-Phone, a Vodafone Group company in Japan, will launch third-generation (3G) service in Japan on 20 December, J-Phone announced. By launching a dual terminal that will be able to be used for both GSM and W-CDMA services, J-Phone is aiming to win 1 million users by the end of December 2003.
In Japan, NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile carrier in Japan, launched its 3G service based on W-CDMA in October 2001, and KDDI Corp, the second-largest operator in Japan, launched 3G service based on cdma2000 in April 2002.
With J-Phone’s launch of 3G service in December, all three Japanese mobile operators will compete with each other by providing 3G services. J-Phone will be the first operator among the Vodafone group to launch 3G services.
In related news, subscribers of mobile services in Japan at the end of October numbered 72.44 million, a 9.9-percent increase from a year ago, according to statistics compiled by the telecom ministry. It was the first time the increase rate slipped from a double-digit growth since April 1997, when the ministry starting releasing the monthly mobile users.
According to the telecom ministry, cellular phone users among the total Japanese population was 56.9 percent, a 0.3-percent increase from that of September. On the other hand, subscribers for PHS services were 5.61 million, or 4.4 percent, of the total population.
