TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo Inc. said that its FOMA network would cover 99 percent of the population in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region of Japan, which includes Tokyo, beginning Sept. 6, and its network would cover 96 percent of the Japanese population by the end of September.
With the increased coverage, the FOMA network is expected to cover the same service area as DoCoMo’s legacy PDC network in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region and is scheduled to match coverage in populated areas nationwide by the end of March 2004. DoCoMo’s slow 3G uptake has been blamed on poor coverage, among other reasons.
The carrier said the enhanced network coverage would include an increase in base stations from 2,500 to 2,800 in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region and from 7,000 base stations to 8,400 base stations nationwide. In addition, DoCoMo said its In-building Mobile Communication System would be expanded to 167 buildings in Kanto-Koshinetsu and 300 buildings nationwide by the end of this month.
