the J-Phone IMT network is very different from FOMA.
first FOMA is not only an old version of R99 but also there are a lot
of DoCoMo proprietary specs to breach the standard. this is because
both their nature (DoCoMo has larger research facilities than many
manufacturers that making strange things is a key activity for budget
and ... its own existence), and their lack of experience of the GSM
network (there are more things you have to know than reading 3GPP
documents). so the FOMA network is more expensive and difficult to
upgrade.
J-Phone IMT network is implemented using cheap and relatively low
performance Ericsson equipment, only 64 kb/s packet data (expandable
to 128 kb/s). it's easier for J-Phone to rollout the 3G network at
a much faster speed than DoCoMo (early fat bird). J-Phone IMT's
trial network is way better than DoCoMo a year ago, and will surpass
FOMA next year.
another thing that make big difference is that DoCoMo has an old data
service technology - the i-mode. I don't know when and how they will
upgrade and move on to WAP/OMA. it's a difficult task, but I don't
think they can afford not. J-Phone, on the other hand have already
WAP for PDC and it's a relatively easy job for them.
Vodafone certainly won't have to go the same learning curve as DoCoMo,
though I cannot say if they won't run into other troubles.
about handset chipsets, NEC's first chipset (also used by Panasonic)
is poorly designed. Toshiba's first one (in T2101V) is better but
NEC's new chipset (N2051, P2102V) is quite improved with less power
consumption (150 hrs max stand-by).
but the real culprit is the W-CDMA design, which complicates handset
processing and requires higher power consumption. Qualcomm provides
chipsets for both FOMA and J-Phone IMT handsets (Sharp & Sanyo).
it's good for small manufacturers to enter the market.
cheers,
Ken
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Received on Mon Dec 2 23:23:35 2002