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This Month’s Top Stories:
10/13/2005
KDDI and TEPCO Group form alliance to compete against the NTT Group
www.kddi.com (English Release)
KDDI Corp. and Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) have decided to form a comprehensive alliance in
telecommunications services with an aim to compete against the NTT Group. A basic agreement on the
merger between KDDI and PoweredCom Inc. and on the provision of integrated services in the FTTH
business of KDDI and TEPCO has also been reached. Under this alliance, KDDI and the TEPCO Group will
integrate their telecommunications-related management resources with an aim to form a stronger
telecommunications service group, and dominate the competitive telecommunications market. They also
plan to provide customers with the highest quality of service by the convergence of telecommunications
and energy services, and also by removing the walls between different similar lines of business.
Moreover, the alliance aims to meet the expectations of Japan's people by fully contributing to the
development of economy and society by forming as early as possible a business group that is strong
enough to compete against the NTT Group.
10/17/2005
Oki Electric and ACCESS establish a new company to develop Software for next
generation mobile terminals
www.access.co.jp
(English Release)
Oki Electric Industry Co., Ltd. and ACCESS Co., Ltd. announced the joint establishment of OKI ACCESS
Technologies, Co., Ltd., a new company focused on developing voice and video media package products for
next generation mobile terminals. The company will begin operations on November 1. OKI ACCESS
Technologies will develop advanced software suite products that will reduce development costs, increase
development speed and improve development quality. The two companies have been developing products
utilizing IP technologies based on an agreement signed in June 2005. With upcoming multimedia
applications based on IP, demand for solution platforms to connect high-quality browser functions with
high-quality sound and high-definition video, have been increasing. Such platforms enable, for example,
users to conduct mobile commerce and purchase items via voice and video, to exchange real-time presence
information, and to access company information systems in a mobile environment.
10/17/2005
i-Format Forum to standardize “differential data format”
www.incrementp.co.jp
(Japanese Release)
i-Format Forum, a consortium for the development of mobile navigation systems, announced that it aims
to standardize a “differential data format” which enables individual segments on a map to be updated.
i-Format Forum was established by Increment P, Clarion, Xanavi Informatics, Pioneer and Mitsubishi
Electric in 2001. In 2006, the consortium will define the specifications for next generation navigation
systems for automobiles. The organization also expects that more third party developers will create
applications and content based on the new specifications.
10/18/2005
Navitime Japan holds a business strategy meeting
www.navitime.co.jp
(Japanese Release)
Navitime Japan held a press conference to reveal its business strategies and plans for a mobile
navigation service. The company currently offers the mobile phone navigation service, “Total Navigation
”, which provides navigation and directional capability to desired destinations using various
transportation methods such as walking, trains, automobiles, buses and airplanes. The service is
available for i-mode, EZweb and Vodafone Live! users. At the meeting, the company said that along with
mandatory of GPS feature equipped mobile phone starting from 2007 in Japan, its navigation technology
and routing search engine will boost the company’s mobile business. In the conference, the company also
announced that they will begin to offer a “Voice Navi” system to China Unicom at the end of October.
This will allow Chinese service provides routing information for walking and automobile in China for
those users and which has also voice interactive system using GPS. The company claims that other
countries such as U.S. and China also will most likely follow the same rule of GPS equipped mobile
phone in the near future so that its technology may become as de fact standard worldwide.
10/19/2005
DoCoMo unveils new 3G FOMA 902i Series with information capture service
“ToruCa”
www.nttdocomo.com (English Release)
DoCoMo announced the development of the new 902i series of 3G FOMA handsets. The 902i series is
equipped for several new services including the Push-To-Talk walkie-talkie-style communication service,
the ToruCa information capture service, and the i-channel information update service. The ToruCa
service will enable users to obtain information by simply waving their phones in front of dedicated
reader/writers installed at restaurants, theaters, music stores, arcades and other establishments. For
example, when a user buys a CD at a store using DoCoMo's "Osaifu-Keitai" mobile phone with wallet
functionality, they can wave their DoCoMo phone in front of a reader/writer to receive information
about the CD, the artist, any promotional coupons offered by the artist's recording label, and more.
The series is also compatible with several newly enhanced DoCoMo services/functions, including Deco-
mail e-mail decoration, videophone with default speakerphone setting from the time the user places or
answers a call, G-Guide for TV programs including terrestrial digital broadcasts, and security scan
automatic updates of phone software.
10/19/2005
DoCoMo starts offering first walkie-talkie-style communication
service
www.nttdocomo.com (English Release)
DoCoMo began offering a new service called “Push Talk”, which is the company’s first walkie-talkie
style communication service. The “PushTalk” service on the FOMA packet-communications network will
allow phones to be used like walkie-talkies for simultaneous, one-way communication from one 902i user
to as many as four other 902i users. The service will launch concurrently with the 902i series. As a
marketing campaign, DoCoMo is planning to waive communications charges (5.25 yen for each one-way
communication) until the end of December 2005. The caller pushes the Talk button to display a directory
of other users. After selecting one or more people, the caller presses the Talk button again for
immediate, simultaneous connection to the other users. The caller holds down the Talk button while
speaking, then releases it to let someone else speak (while the Talk button is pressed, the speaker
cannot hear others talk). One person can talk up to 30 seconds at a time. If nobody speaks for 30
seconds, the connection automatically times out.
10/19/2005
Advanced Media offers voiceprint recognition system for mobile
handsets
www.advanced-media.co.jp (Japanese Release)
Advanced Media has developed “AmiVoice Mobile Verification”, a voiceprint recognition system for mobile
handsets, and has started offering the system as an ASP-based service. The company adapted recognition
technology that is currently being used in the biotech sector. “SyncLock Personal” recognition service
offered by BB Mobile utilizes this system. “AmiVoice Mobile Verification” can be used with not only
mobile phones but also fixed phones, IP phones and PHS phones. The senders’ number and manufacturer’s
serial numbers are stored as an ID, and the voiceprint is used as a password. The user registers both
his/her voiceprint in the particular mobile terminal so that no one can register the same ID and
password at different terminals.
10/20/2005
Subscribers of 3G service will exceed 50% by the end of March 2006, a report
says
www.m2ri.jp
(English Release)
MM Research Institute published a research report about domestic mobile phone shipments for the first
half of FY 2005, from April to September 2005. According to the report, the total number of shipments
was 21.29 million which represents a slight increase 0.9 % compared to the same time last year.
Although there were no models that recorded explosive sales, replacement demands from 2G to 3G mobile
phones increased steadily. The number of users who subscribed to 3G services, such as CDMA2000 1X and
FOMA, were 39.23 million during the period. Subscribers to 3G services as at the end of September
amounted to 8.91 million, which accounted for 44% of the total market. As the market for 3G mobile
phones accelerates, we will naturally see the 2G market shrink. By the end of 2005, the subscribers to
3G services will increase to 53% of total users. The total mobile phone market for FY 2005 is estimated
to be 44.3 million units, up 0.8% compared to the previous fiscal year. Along with the trend that new
demands for both 2G and 3G services will gradually decrease, it is expected that each company will
devise various measures to secure their own clientele. Service providers will also be looking ahead
towards a new Number-Portability system or newcomers to the market. Also, the replacement demand not
only from 2G to 3G services but within 3G itself is expected to grow. The ratio of 3G subscribers will
surpass 50% of the total market by the end of FY 2005.
10/24/2005
KDDI starts to offer “Hello Messenger” service targeted at high school
students
www.kddi.com
(Japanese Release)
KDDI and Okinawa Cellular started marketing Mitsubishi Electric’s W33SA, Toshiba’s W32T and Kyocera’s
A5515K, which are compatible with a new service called “Hello Messenger”, at the end of November.
“Hello Messenger” is an integrated communication service which enables users to communicate (up to 5
members) through voice and text messaging with images. It also has the Push-To-Talk, walkie-talkie
style communication service. Compared with the similar service offered by DoCoMo, “Push Talk”, KDDI
claims that their service is superior because of the ability to simultaneous communication via voice,
text and images (photos). The company is targeting the “Hello Messenger” service towards high-school
female students, who are considered heavy text message users.
10/25/2005
MIC concludes the revision of regulation for emergency call
information
www.soumu.go.jp
(Japanese Release)
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) completed the revision of the regulation on
communication infrastructures. The revisions will allow police and fire departments to obtain location
information of mobile phones used when calling emergency numbers (110 or 119). The ministry passed the
regulation to the Information and Telecommunication Committee. The revision includes plans that say any
emergency call should connect to the local police and fire department when a caller calls 110 or 119
via career’s mobile infrastructure. The caller’s phone number and location (with GPS) will also be
transmitted. The regulation also requires mobile carriers to reserve a certain number of lines for
emergency calls. MIC will have a public hearing within the year and plans to release the regulations in
April 2007.
10/27/2005
Jupiter Telecommunications and Willcom to partner on Mobile Business
www.jcom.co.jp
(English Release)
Jupiter Telecommunications Co., Ltd. (J:COM, CATV operator) and Willcom, Inc. (PHS operator) announced
that they have reached an agreement to partner for a new mobile phone business tie-up where J:COM will
market Willcom handsets under the J:COM brand. This new service option will be offered to J:COM’s
subscribers beginning in March 2006. The tentatively dubbed “J:COM MOBILE” service will be based on the
“WILLCOM Flat-Rate Plan,” which includes free calls and e-mails between WILLCOM handsets for a monthly
basic fee of 2,900 yen (tax included), and will be made available to subscribers under the J:COM brand.
As with its other service offerings, J:COM will offer the new mobile service as part of a bundle of
services at a discounted rate to customers who subscribe to more than one J:COM service. J:COM MOBILE
will also provide discounted rates for calls with J:COM PHONE subscribers, and service fees would be
consolidated into J:COM’s single convenient bill. In addition, as with calls between WILLCOM
subscribers, calls between WILLCOM subscribers and J:COM MOBILE subscribers will be for free. J:COM and
WILLCOM plan to finalize the details of the agreement before the end of the year, after which a
promotional campaign will be implemented and pre-subscriptions will be taken in advance of the service
launch.
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