3G Not Sparking In Europe For NTT DoCoMo

NTT DoCoMo Inc. thought its third-generation mobile phone system would spread like wildfire in Europe-but it hardly even generated sparks as reported by The Asahi Shimbun.

As a result, the mobile phone giant decided Tuesday to snuff its smoldering overseas expansion plans for the time being, effectively extinguishing plans to grab a commanding lead in the global 3G market.

Last autumn, DoCoMo became the first company to launch a 3G service when it rolled out the technology domestically.

Aiming to put further distance between itself and the rest of the field, DoCoMo sought to make its 3G specifications a global standard, hooking up with European telecoms that were keen on putting the technology into practice by the end of this year. But the alliances faltered as the European firms postponed or withdrew from the 3G business, leaving DoCoMo in an unenviable position of promoting its system on its own in Europe.

There are currently two international standards for 3G mobile phones-W-CDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access), which was jointly developed by Japanese and European concerns, and CDMA2000 1x, which was developed by U.S. wireless telephone giant Qualcomm Inc.

The transmission speed of W-CDMA is more than double that of its U.S. counterpart. DoCoMo's standard was adopted by some major U.S. firms, leading many to believe it would become the leading world standard.

Commercialization of the W-CDMA format, seen as integral to the dissemination of 3G phones in Europe, has been impeded by sky-high licensing fees required to operate 3G phones, which in turn have depleted the resources of European telecoms needed to invest in equipment.

Demand for the major features of 3G phones, including videophone and image transmission, is not expected to show marked improvement any time soon.

DoCoMo's 3G expansion freeze follows similar moves by other telecoms firms. In 2000, a consortium comprising six telecoms firms paid 5 trillion yen for the license to operate 3G services in Germany. Of the six, two have already halted investment in 3G.

Britain's Vodafone, the world's largest mobile phone company, postponed a trial service in Germany slated for this autumn to early next year.

Orange group, a France Telecom affiliate, plans to delay production of 3G equipment in Sweden that was initially scheduled for the end of 2003, for three years.

Another reason for the disappointing start to 3G service in Europe has been the growing popularity of general packet radio service (GPRS), or so-called 2G technology, which is less costly than 3G technology and readily compatible with Web sites.

``European nations will likely go with the GPRS format for the time being. They will probably not hasten to start 3G services,'' the Communications and Information network Association of Japan said.(IHT/Asahi: October 31,2002)