NTT DoCoMo announced today that they will roll out a dual networkTM service under which 3G service subscribers will be able to assign the same phone number both to FOMA and PDC (800 MHz) phones beginning July 1, 2002.

Users of the FOMA network will thus be assured of nationwide access to mobile phone services, including , i-Mode as well as nationwide use of a single phone number, thanks to the PDC (800Mhz) network's wider service area. What's more, the PDC phone can be placed under the FOMA service contract, so there is no duplication of monthly fees for owning a PDC as well as FOMA mobile phone. Users merely obtain a PDC phone and pay for communication charges, if any, each month.

DoCoMo expects the service to encourage conventional PDC users to migrate to FOMA, especially since they can continue to use their PDC phones with the dual network service.

The sign-up fee for the service, 1,000 yen, initially will be waved between July 1 and August 31. In addition, the monthly dual network subscription fee, 300 yen, will be reduced to 200 yen if the customer also signs up for voice mail service when making application. Users pay FOMA communication charges depending on their FOMA billing plan. PDC communication charges depend on their PDC billing plan, which is actually made part of the FOMA plan (please see attachment.)

Optional services, such as voice mail contracted under a FOMA service plan, also are useable with PDC phones. Received i-mode mail exceeding 2,000 letters (or 4,000 alphanumeric characters) is readable only with the user's FOMA phone. If the mail is less than 2,000 letters, however, it can be checked with their PDC phone via a dedicated website. Various discount plans, such as "Yu-Yu call," can be applied both to FOMA and PDC communications charges.

In accordance with official requirements, DoCoMo and its subsidiaries have notified the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Post and Telecommunications of the new service.

For details of communication charges and the procedure for activating phones for the service, please see the attachment.

The patent EP 297616 relates to and has a broad applicability to, amongst other things, multimode GSM and CDMA handset terminals, ie handsets capable of accessing more than one type of network.

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