3G phone launch postponed

The world will have to wait at least four months longer for third generation mobile phone services after Japanese telecoms firm NTT DoCoMo pulled the plug on next month's planned 3G phone launch.

The company had promised a Tokyo-wide launch of its i-mode internet enabled mobile phone service for May, but today a spokesman said the 3G service has been changed from a commercial offering to an "introductory" test run starting May 30. The full service is now scheduled for a September launch.

The company denied that technological problems were behind the decision, saying that NTT DoCoMo wants extra time to collect user feedback and compile data on how the system worked before rolling out a commercial service.

When it appears, the 3G i-mode service is expected to tempt users with a service that is 40 times faster and includes video and wider internet capabilities. NTT DoCoMo has said that users will be charged for data and voice transmission, but not for the 3G handsets.

The delay will probably not threaten NTT DoCoMo's hopes to be first to market with 3G services.

European companies such as BT, Orange and Vodafone have spent billions of pounds and gone deeply into debt on the promise of delivering 3G services. An auction of 3G licences pulled in £22.5bn for the UK government alone, with countries from Italy to France to Spain following suit with auctions of their own.

This week British government ministers formally ruled out any change in the terms and conditions of the licences, quashing rumours that ministers were considering refunding part of the licence fees.

The companies are still negotiating over the ability to share network resources, rather than incurring the cost of building separate networks. The UK government believes the establishment of four distinct 2G networks improved quality through competition.

Useful links
NTT DoCoMo I-mode information
3G portal
WAP forum

Richard Hartley

Technology, Photography & Film

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