No Strings Attached

By Mike von Wahlde
Associate Editor, INTERNET TELEPHONY

From a stumbling economy, a phoenix often rises. The phoenix is not an accident. It grows from well-laid plans, far from the entropy pervading the current markets, and it is the fruition of years of work and millions upon millions spent in preparation.

Is 3G this phoenix? It drives the hopes of wireless providers and users alike. It has kept the wireless market steady (or at least steadier), maintaining focus and chugging along on the steam of fervent hopes for a better, more liberating way to communicate. We have been watching it grow, tending to it and feeding its development, and preparing for it to come. Like a proud parent, NTT DoCoMo is ready to push 3G out of the nest and let it take wing.

October 1st will be the day that DoCoMo begins selling its 3G offerings in Japan. The first 3G rollout should be welcomed with open minds and wallets. DoCoMo's 3G service, which goes by the moniker FOMA, has been in introductory service since May 30, 2001. A cross section of consumers has been using FOMA under real-world conditions -- they're really DoCoMo's guinea pigs, and they've helped work out necessary adjustments and system stability improvements.

Services and features is what 3G is all about, and this initial offering from DoCoMo is no slouch: with land-line equivalent voice and 64 Kbps digital real-time video, Dr. Spock is not too far in the distant future. Packet data communications are offered at a max 384 Kbps downlink, and a max 64 Kbps uplink. When transferred over a circuit-switched connection, there's a 64 Kbps uplink and downlink speed. Fast? Um, yes. Short messaging services between FOMA handsets is built in, and multi-access, simultaneous voice and packet communications is now a reality. All of the i-mode services already offered will be supported, as will standard mobile applications such as voice mail, call forwarding, and call waiting.

Three handsets will be available at the rollout of the service: FOMA N2001 (standard type), FOMA N2101V (visual type), and the FOMA P2401 (data-card type).

Features include built-in cameras for on-the-go video and still photos (think about that feature for U.S. drivers behind the wheel!), JPEG and GIF transfer and viewing capabilities, 30 Kb single-time downloads, fast-as-sin data transfer, and several other more standard features. All this functionality comes wrapped up in a tidy little (read: not bulky, purse-requiring, or PDA-sized) handset.

The initial service area comprises a 30-kilometer radius within central Tokyo, with service offered to Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe and Nagoya City, and then through major cities across Japan by March 2002.

FOMA will be offered with no contract handling charge from October 1, 2001 to the end of March 2002, as well as 1,000 yen worth of bundled free calls with both the comprehensive plan and the data-only plan.

The cost difference will not be a gigantic leap from DoCoMo's i-mode offerings. DoCoMo's president Keiji Tachikawa has stated that while the average monthly i-mode bill is around 8,770 yen right now, FOMA bills will likely be around 10,000 yen.

Will 3G and FOMA lead the communications industry to a rebirth from the ashes of recent markets? Maybe not. But it will change the way we communicate forever, and it may provide just the jump start the wireless world needs.

Mike von Wahlde welcomes your comments at mvonwahlde@tmcnet.com.