Dr Keiji Tachikawa, President and CEO of NTT DoCoMo, will speak at the marcus evans 3G Mobile World Summit, from 15 to 18 January 2002 in Tokyo, Japan.
The world`s first third-generation cellular phone service was finally introduced earlier this month on 1 October by NTT DoCoMo, Japan`s biggest mobile phone operator, after months of delays and technical glitches.
FOMA - Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access - offers a connection speed that is 40 times faster than existing mobile phones, allowing users to surf the Internet and engage in video conferencing. Tachikawa plans to use this third-generation technology, FOMA, to transform DoCoMo from a large Japanese firm into a global household name.
Building on a 60% share of the "voice-only" mobile phone market, DoCoMo has created the world`s most popular mobile Internet service - i-mode, which offers slow but cheap e-mail and Web surfing. I-mode has attracted more than 28 million subscribers - though only in Japan. By contrast, Europe`s counterpart, WAP, has failed to catch on, while America has yet to join the mobile Internet world. European firms appear to be getting cold feet about the new technology and many are scaling back or delaying their launch plans. "It should not be forgotten that FOMA is the product of 14 years of work by tens of thousands of people around the world," says Tachikawa.
Only a handful of customers queued in the rain to be among the first to get their hands on the new phones. They paid handsomely for the privilege. Although suppliers will heavily discount the hardware, consumers have to pay about 20% more than the existing I-mode internet compatible service. Initial impressions, however, were positive. Aiming initially at business customers who are more likely to pay the extra costs of the service with an expansion to a broader market by 2004.
The 3G service will initially be restricted to a 30km radius in the Tokyo metropolitan area, but DoCoMo says it will rapidly expand coverage to include Osaka, Kyoto and Nagoya by the end of the year, and the rest of the country by next spring. DoCoMo plans to capitalise on its lead by launching services in Europe next year in conjunction with firms such as Hutchison 3G UK and KPM Mobile of the Netherlands. "We chose Hutchison because we thought they had a good vision," says Tachikawa.
DoCoMo is challenging Britain`s Vodafone for control of the wireless world. "We are unique," says DoCoMo`s president. "We have always compared ourselves with the west. We had no choice because we were always the frontrunner at home." Vodafone has already taken up the challenge. Recently, the British company took control of Japan`s third biggest mobile phone company, J Phone.
DoCoMo also has an enviable strong financial base. Thanks to Japanese government largesse, it has not had to splash out on an expensive 3G licence, so its borrowings are low. "It`s frustrating," he says, when asked how he feels that European and Asian firms are so far behind. "One of the pillars of 3G was to provide international roaming. I`d like the world to advance at the same pace."
The technology could break the company or make it into a leader in a market that the world`s telecoms companies are spending more than $100 billion to create.
Acknowledging the high stakes, Tachikawa said: "The migration from second-generation to third will revolutionise telecommunications, so the first company to launch the new technology will face the highest risks."
For more information about the upcoming 3G Mobile World Summit, please contact Karen Wilson, Marketing Manager, marcus evans South Africa: Tel 011 516 1000/6, e-mail: karenw@marcusevanssa.com.
Reference: Jonathan Watts for the Guardian UK: October 2001
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