NTT DoCoMo has held a summit addressing fourth-generation mobile
technology, gathering together representatives of major
telecommunication and electronics companies, with the intention of
generating interest for 4G services and sparking initial
discussions between NTT DoCoMo and industry participants.
The meeting took place on Tuesday evening in Tokyo but was not
publicised by the carrier.
"I think it is the first time that all of the members of the
ecosystem were pulled together at one site hosted by NTT DoCoMo and
to understand their shared vision," said Tony Sica, vice-president
and director of marketing at Intel's Wireless Communications and
Computing Group, who attended the meeting.
"As we move forward and have discussions and collaborations with
DoCoMo, I think each one of us will understand where we can add
value to their road map," he added.
NTT DoCoMo has already begun working on 4G technologies and
established a research and development laboratory earlier this year
to pursue the research.
Most recently, the company announced the labs had succeeded in
transmitting data over an experimental 4G mobile telephony system
at a downlink speed of 100Mbps and an uplink speed of 20Mbps.
DoCoMo aims to launch a commercial service by 2010, which offers
data transmission speeds that are around 275 times faster than the
364kbps top speed of the carrier's 3G network.
DoCoMo has also worked with Hewlett-Packard in the field of
streaming video. Intel's Sica said his company has already begun
work with the carrier in the area of security and is now looking at
expanding into other areas.
DoCoMo's 4G research push began shortly after it commercialised its
3G network - a network that is still struggling to attract the
attention of consumers and has fallen far short of initial
predictions.
At the end of September, DoCoMo's Foma 3G service had attracted
135,700 consumers, according to data from the Telecommunication
Carriers Association. DoCoMo had expected to see 1.38 million
subscribers using the network by the end of 2002, but recently
admitted it would be unable to achieve its goal.