NTT DoCoMo Inc has developed a technology that increases the speed of its 3G (third-generation) cellular telephone FOMA service by more than 30 times, putting it on par with ADSL (asymmetric digital subscriber line) service.
The technology would enable its handsets to receive television and high-quality music content, which cannot be handled by its current FOMA service.
The telecom firm hopes to have the technology deployed as early as 2005.
The new technology employs a more efficient form of transmission by allotting to specific users frequencies for intensive use. This allows transmission speeds to reach a maximum of 14Mbps, far faster than the current 384kbps. DoCoMo hopes to develop prototype equipment this year.
Current FOMA service offers television phone service, but the smooth transmission of content-rich data like CD-quality music and video is not possible by using the current technology.
KDDI Corp plans to being offering cell phone service that has transmission speeds of 2.4Mbps in Japan's three major metropolitan regions this fall. DoCoMo's technology would leapfrog this.
http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/asabt/news/263312
Received on Wed Aug 27 17:51:35 2003