TOKYO-Anticipating the International Telecommunication Union’s (ITU’s) scheduled March decision regarding key characteristics for the third-generation cellular, IMT-2000, Japanese carriers are mounting efforts to be able to kick off their 3G businesses earlier than any other nation.
Japan Telecom Co. (JT), in cooperation with Nissan Motor Co., and AirTouch International in December established a new company, IMT-2000 Planning. The firm, aiming to become a 3G operator in Japan, will start its business activities in early March.
IDO Corp. in April will launch cdmaOne (Code Division Multiple Access IS-95) services in its service areas of Kanto and Chubu. DDI Corp., its partner, already launched cdmaOne services in western Japan (Kansai, Kyushu and Okinawa regions) last July. Once IDO launches in April, cdmaOne service will become available nationwide.
However, both firms are taking CDMA a step further. In May 1998, the two jointly established a laboratory within DDI headquarters in Chiyoda ward, central Tokyo, and launched a study of cdma2000, the next-generation technology based on CDMA IS-95. They now are scheduled to launch a field test for cdma2000 in April.
Meanwhile, NTT Mobile Communications Network (NTT DoCoMo) said it would launch wideband CDMA (W-CDMA), its choice for 3G, at the beginning of 2001 because its allocated spectrum will be at capacity by then.
DoCoMo launched field tests for W-CDMA in October 1998 at Yokosuka Research Park, where its R&D center is located, as well as in Tokyo. In February DoCoMo also launched a two-year experiment for W-CDMA in Singapore in cooperation with Singapore Telecom and the National University of Singapore. Later this year, it is planning to launch another experiment in Malaysia in cooperation with MBNS Multimedia Technologies and the Malaysia Institute of Technology.
In Japan’s Kansai area, DoCoMo started constructing two new buildings for the new business. These two buildings, in Osaka City and Kyoto City, will become the strongholds for DoCoMo’s W-CDMA operation in western Japan.
Japan’s existing six cellular carrier groups are reorganizing themselves into three new groups because the Ministry of Posts and Telecommunications has decided to grant 3G licenses to only three firms in each region or nationwide. But reorganization in the Japanese telecommunication market seems to be proceeding further.
Kozo Suzuki, senior managing director of JT, said IMT-2000 Planning is seeking a fourth and perhaps a fifth investor.
In addition, Japan’s KDD Corp. and more foreign carriers are expected to participate in the 3G businesses.
KDD, once the international telephone monopoly, now is providing domestic-to-international seamless services since it took over Teleway, a subsidiary of Toyota Motor Co., in December.
At the press conference announcing its merger plan, KDD President Tadashi Nishimoto said the company would like to provide 3G services “in cooperation with IDO.”
IDO is also a subsidiary of Toyota, and upon the merger with Teleway, Toyota became the second-largest shareholder of KDD.
Since the three seats for 3G seem to be occupied by DoCoMo, the IDO-DDI alliance and IMT-2000 Planning, KDD may have no choice but to enter the business by joining with one of these three groups.
But IDO currently is busy promoting cdma2000 in cooperation with DDI. In fact, Yomiuri Shimbun, a national daily, recently reported that IDO and DDI will merge. Both companies denied the report, but industry observers say it would be a natural development.
Foreign carriers are active in the market, too. British Telecommunications plc, which openly has expressed interest in entering the Japanese 3G business, is negotiating actively with several Japanese carriers.
JT’s Suzuki said France Telecom and Deutsche Telecom also are hoping to enter the market.
ITU’s Task Group 8-1 is scheduled to decide key characteristics for IMT-2000 by the end of March. Based on these key characteristics, the MPT will decide Japan’s technology for IMT-2000.
After revising MPT laws, MPT could begin accepting 3G applications in November. Then, or prior to that, carriers would order equipment and building out their 3G networks-expected to take at least one and a half years.
So “if everything is carried out on schedule,” licensed carriers may be able to launch 3G services by the end of 2001, according to Yasuo Tawara, MPT’s deputy director in charge of mobile telecommunications.
However, the MPT’s schedule may be delayed because the ITU’s standardization process has continued to be deadlocked by intellectual property right (IPR) issues.
Seeking a solution to the IPR problems, a series of conferences were held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in early February. The Asia Pacific Telecommunity Standardization Program (ASTAP) met on 1 February, Task Group 8/1 Working Group 5 held a meeting between 2-5 February and a special IMT-2000 IPR meeting was held on 6 February.
The meetings failed to produce decisive improvements over the issue.
However, a series of new proposals were submitted at the Malaysia meetings that reportedly are being considered by the standardization bodies. Under the surface, carriers, vendors and standardization organizations are moving actively to make a breakthrough.
Fumio Watanabe, vice president of KDD’s Mobile Communications Laboratory and co-chair of the ASTAP meeting, still believes the ITU will be able to establish a single standard.
“Gaps among proposals have been narrowed down,” he said. “There are only three major differences among major proposals: the chip rate, synchronization/asynchronization of base stations and the pilot issue.”
