TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo Inc. and Hong Kong-based Hutchison Whampoa Ltd. released further details and expanded their previously announced agreement to cooperate on the development and promotion of third-generation W-CDMA services.
Under the partnership, the companies will collaborate on handsets, standards, international roaming and radio technology. DoCoMo said the companies will share information on handset development and determine common specifications. In addition, they will focus on 3G standards through the 3G Partnership Project and the Open Mobile Alliance. The companies will also align standards to test and implement seamless international voice and data roaming, as well as conduct joints studies of each company’s approach to radio network development and deployment.
Both companies offer W-CDMA services, DoCoMo in Japan and Hutchison through its European subsidiaries in the United Kingdom and Italy.
In other DoCoMo news, the operator made official the speculation earlier this week regarding a partnership with Italy’s Wind Telecomunicazioni for i-mode services. Wind will launch i-mode in Italy under an exclusive licensing agreement. DoCoMo will not take a stake in Wind.
DoCoMo’s Spanish i-mode partner, Telefonica Moviles, plans to begin its i-mode service tomorrow. Spain will be the seventh market in which i-mode has been launched, following Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Belgium and France.
