I would say that the problem with FOMA is not only the handsets but also the
fact that UMTS is not compatible with PDC, which has resulted in a very low
transition rate of users from 2G to FOMA.
In comparison, KDDI, which uses CDMA 2000 1x, and has full backward
compatibility for 2G users, has 2.4 million subs for 3G, proving that, so
long as the build out is done intelligently, people do want 3G and are
willing to upgrade.
At present, there is little practical benefit for mova users to go to FOMA -
they lose their number, they have bad coverage, they have to switch between
networks and phones, prices are high for service when you can get a signal,
and most importantly, the main multimedia services that were supposed to
differentiate FOMA from mova (like camera phone functionality) were made
available on the 2G network.
In all, FOMA has been a very expensive experiment for DoCoMo at this point
that has yet to bear fruit, despite its promise.
Mark
On 9/29/02 22:11, "Kyle Barrow" <kyle@pukupi.com> wrote:
>
> On 2002-09-30 10:35, "Ken Chang" <kench@hotmail.com> wrote:
>
>> btw, DoCoMo just adjusted their target number of subscribers
>> to FOMA to 0.4 mln by the end of March 2003, from 1.38 mln.
>> as today, one year after the service launch, they failed even
>> to meet the target number set for the end of March 2002
>> (less than 140k, the target was 150k).
>
> Hardly a surprise when the current FOMA models a somewhat reminiscent of
> WWII army radios - in size and battery life anyway.
>
>
> Kyle
--
Mark Frieser
Consect
+1 917 664 1606
Subscribe to the globalwireless mailing list for the latest information on
mobile devices, applications, services, content and applications from Asia,
Europe and North America.
To subscribe, send a note to globalwireless-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
Received on Mon Sep 30 05:59:57 2002