TOKYO-Three Japanese carrier groups are gearing up their efforts to launch IMT-2000 services-earlier than any other wireless carriers in the world. The three players are NTT DoCoMo Group, Japan Telecom (JT) Group and DDI Group.
NTT DoCoMo plans to be the first carrier in the world to launch third-generation (3G) services, based on direct spread-frequency division duplex (DS-FDD), in second-quarter 2001. JT Group will be the second. The IMT-2000 Planning Co., which JT established a year ago with British Telecom and Vodafone AirTouch will launch its 3G service in October 2001. DDI Group., which is scheduled to take over IDO and KDD in October, plans to launch its 3G service soon after these two groups.
Meanwhile, the government in February announced its spectrum-allocation policy for the 3G business. The government will allocate 15 megahertz of spectrum for uplink or downlink or 30 megahertz for both uplink and downlink for each of three licensed carriers.
The government previously said it would allocate 20 megahertz for either uplink or downlink to each carrier. However, due to possible interference with PHS services, the government later decided to reduce the allocated bandwidth.
Based on the spectrum announcement, carriers will submit their applications to the government in the second quarter. After screening, the government will grant licenses to three carriers. Most industry insiders believe a license will go to each of the country’s three largest carrier groups-NTT DoCoMo, DDI and JT.
Once granted licenses, carriers will launch a field test using commercial-use base transceiver stations (BTSs) and radio network controllers (RNCs) in third-quarter 2000 at the earliest, targeting launch of commercial services in second-quarter 2001.
NTT DoCoMo plans to launch its 3G service first in the world because its currently allocated spectrum on the 800 MHz and 1.5 GHz bands will reach capacity due to the rapid expansion of its subscriber base.
DoCoMo has a clear 3G business plan. Initially, it will limit its 3G service to Tokyo. Then the carrier will gradually expand its service areas nationwide-first to Osaka and Nagoya and then to other major cities. By 2003 or 2004, it will increase the population coverage of 3G services to 90 percent.
The JT Group will launch its 3G service in October 2001 also based on DS-FDD. The carrier will start its 3G service in key areas such as Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya and then expand its service nationwide within a couple of years.
Takeshi Hashino, managing director of IMT-2000 Planning Co., said the carrier will quickly expand the 3G service area nationwide partly because the present PDC service offers a slow data rate (9.6 kilobits per second) and partly because harsh competition among carriers is expected.
The DDI Group has not yet announced a clear business plan. DDI and IDO have developed studies for jointly launching their 3G service based on cdma2000. However, partly because they decided to merge with each other and KDD last December, they are now forced to reconsider their 3G business plan.
Since KDD has studied wideband-CDMA technology, which has evolved into DS-FDD, there are rumors the DDI Group may launch its 3G service based on DS-FDD rather than multicarrier-FDD (MC-FDD).
The Japanese 3G business is one of the major reasons the three carriers decided to merge. But their service plans could be delayed compared with the other two carriers.
User costs
The carriers said they have not decided on service prices. However, the price level of NTT DoCoMo’s service most likely will become the standard price for the two other groups because it will launch first.
Kiyohito Nagata, senior manager of research and development of NTT DoCoMo’s Planning Division, said it is gearing up its efforts to develop a 3G system to provide voice services at the same price level or slightly lower than the present PDC services and at one-tenth the cost of present packet services.
If this plan is successfully realized, the prices of 3G services will be 0.02 yen (US$0.0002) per packet (128 bytes). DoCoMo currently is charging users of its packet service, called DoPa, 0.2 yen (US$0.002) per packet.
JT’s Hashino said that JT has not decided its pricing yet, but added that it is impossible for JT, or any other carrier in the Japanese market, to charge prices higher than DoCoMo due to competition.
Speed
Japanese carriers initially will launch 3G service at 384 kbps. The service will not be at 2 Megabits per second (Mbps) partly because technological specifications for 2 Mbps services have not been established by the 3G standards bodies and partly because the allocated spectrum will be limited to 15 MHz. Many industry experts have said that at least 20 megahertz of spectrum is necessary for launching efficient 2 Mbps services.
More importantly, the demand for higher data transmission services like 2 Mbps is still unknown. JT’s Hashino suggested that JT may start at a lower speed than 384 kbps if the carrier cannot find relevant content or services for such a high data transmission speed.
Backbone
Strategies for backbone networks are different among carriers. NTT DoCoMo will construct its 3G networks based on asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). Nagata said the carrier has no other choice because the current Internet Protocol (IP) routers were developed for fixed networks, not for wireless networks.
“In order to provide quality services for our customers, we do not have any other choices,” said Nagata.
On the other hand, JT will use PRISM technology as the backbone for its 3G services. PRISM is the next-generation backbone network being constructed by JT. It is a so-called pure IP network, to be built without any legacy switches.
JT’s Hashino explained that it is the consensus among carriers worldwide that the backbone networks for 3G services will be IP networks.
Fully using the PRISM networks, JT will provide its 3G services focusing on packet communications, but NTT DoCoMo will provide both packet and circuit-switched services.
Terminals
Since 3G is expected to enable numerous new services, terminals will have a variety of features. NTT DoCoMo already made orders for 3G terminals to 10 manufacturers: NEC, Fujitsu, Matsushita, Ericsson, Toshiba, Sharp, Denso, Mitsubishi, Motorola and Nokia.
According to Nagata, DoCoMo will develop three kinds of terminals: an advanced version of the iMode terminal suitable for accessing the Internet, a visual phone with a camera and a large screen, and a data card for PC users.
JT has not selected manufacturers for its terminals, but Hashino said the carrier will produce two types of 3G terminals. The main one will be a handheld terminal with dimensions similar to current second-generation terminals and other devices that can use either landline or wireless connections-for instance, implementing Bluetooth technology.
Production schedules
Vendors are now busily developing BTSs, RNCs and terminals on a tight schedule. Both DoCoMo and JT will launch their services using devices based on Release 99, the specifications worked out in December 1999 by the 3G Partnership Project (3GPP).
DoCoMo last year made orders for BTSs to NEC, Fujitsu, Lucent Technologies, Matsushita and Ericsson and RNCs to NEC, Fujitsu and Lucent Technologies and is expected to receive commercial devices from these venders by the end of March. The carrier will launch a field test in third-quarter 2000.
JT chose NEC and Ericsson as infrastructure vendors. These vendors will develop BTSs and RNCs by the end of 2000, and JT will launch a field test using these devices in the beginning of 2001.
