WASHINGTON-Softbank Corp. said the Japanese government authorized it to operate an experimental third-generation mobile-phone base station in the 1.7 GHz band using W-CDMA technology.
Softbank, a major broadband player in Japan, has been aggressively trying to crack Japan’s 3G wireless market in recent years. Softbank sued Japan’s telecom ministry in 2004 to thwart government plans to give 800 MHz 3G spectrum to NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp. Softbank, which hired high-powered U.S. lawyers and lobbied the Bush administration in support of domestic legal efforts, dropped the suit earlier this year.
Meantime, Japan’s wireless policy continues to be a source of friction between the White House and Japan. In April, the U.S. trade representative highlighted several wireless regulatory problems in Japan in a report. Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications subsequently replied: “The U.S. Government … repeats its one-sided argument in this year’s report without understanding and recognizing relevant facts accurately, which does not seem to be an appropriate way of writing an official governmental report.”
