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Your advert here!!! Technical Editors:
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RDDI AND IDO TO LAUNCH CDMA WIRELESS INTERNET
[January 6, 2000]-Phone.com, has announced that Japanese network
operators, DDI and IDO, are launching a CDMA-based packet service, ‘PacketOne’,
for their wireless internet access services EZweb and Ezaccess, both of which
are based on the Phone.com UP.Link Server Suite. DDI and IDO initiated the EZweb
and EZaccess services in April 1999 using a Japanese nationwide cdmaOne network.
The new PacketOne packet communication service will be available after January
7, 2000. Mobile phones, each equipped with the Phone.com UP.Browser microbrowser,
will be available along with the PacketOne service and will include Toshiba
(C301T), Hitachi (C302H), Casio (C303CA), Sanyo (C304SA), and Sony (C305S).
These mobile phones will provide access to Internet-based information and
applications and include the ability to send and receive email, and access
nearly 200 content sites including news, stock information, weather forecasts,
travel, sports and foreign content. Commented DDI Executive Vice-president Tadashi Onodera,
"Our international industry standard compatible EZweb service has
been well-received by our customers since the service began last April. We
expect that the new packet communications service will provide improved
connectivity and enhanced convenience. Users will be less concerned about
connection time since the service is charged based on the volume of information
transmitted. The number of cdmaOne subscribers exceeded 3 million as of November
23, 1999, an increase of 2.5 million in the 7 months since we began offering the
service. After starting the packet service we will make all cdmaOne cellular
phones WAP-compatible, and therefore, we expect a significant number of users
will use WAP services. Further, we will also promote our "Mobile &
IP" strategy by a commitment to Electronic Commerce business through
enhancement of transaction-based content. " Mr. Satoshi Nakagawa, president of IDO remarked that "The
combination of cdmaOne's excellent voice quality and the EZaccess wireless
Internet access provides a high level of customer satisfaction. Introducing 64
kbps high speed packet communications service via cdmaOne-based mobile phones is
an important turning point in our drive to create new service areas that connect
mobile and IP communications. In the future, we plan to enhance the EZaccess
service and the content of packet communication services and further strengthen
the cdmaOne product line. Phone.com executive vice-president Chuck Parrish said, "Phone.com is
pleased to see DDI and IDO deploy world-leading data capabilities in their CDMA
network and equipment for every mobile phone with a browser.
64KB/sec PacketOne service should provide rapid, global wireless Internet
access throughout the Japanese market." UP.Link Server Suite provides for
the delivery of WML content to any WAP handset, and backward compatibility with
existing HDML content for these handsets, giving network operators the ability
to support the broadest selection of wireless Internet applications available.
The UP.Link Server Suite also enables interactive information services and
applications, including email, visual voicemail, personal organizers and
electronic customer care. Since 1996, Phone.com solutions have been licensed to
over 52 network operators worldwide. About DDI DDI, the 2nd largest telecommunications carrier in Japan, provides long
distance, international telephone, Internet connection, mobile phone, and PHS
services. With respect to mobile phone services, DDI provides services through
the DDI-Cellular Group, which consists of eight subsidiaries covering areas
outside the Tokyo and Tokai regions. The number of subscribers reached 6.1
million in November 1999. The three companies in the TUKA Group that are
newly-affiliated with DDI began providing services in the Tokyo, Tokai and
Kansai areas on October 1, 1999, and the TUKA group had 3.2 million subscribers
as of November 1999. About IDO IDO is a mobile phone service provider founded in March 1987 primarily by
Toyota Motor Corporation and Tokyo Electric Power Co., Inc. Having its business
in the Tokyo and Tokai areas, the center of the Japanese economy, IDO
established a tie-up relationship with DDI-Cellular Group for the introduction
of new cdmaOnce services which began in April 1999 and built a seamless
nationwide network. The number of IDO subscribers using the digital PDC method
and cdmaOne will reach four million soon. This year, in addition to the
high-speed PacketOne data communications service, IDO plans to begin offering an
international cdmaOne-based roaming service to connect countries including
Korea, Hong Kong, U.S. and Australia. |
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