NE Asia Online: "NTT DoCoMo, NEC, Fujitsu Jointly Develop Technology for 4G System to Raise Throughput to 1Gbps&quo

[Jason Dunn]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/asabt/news/294489' target='_blank'>http://neasia.nikkeibp.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/asabt/news/294489</a><br /><br /></div>"NTT DoCoMo Inc of Japan, NEC Corp of Japan and Fujitsu Ltd of Japan have proposed a technology for an orthogonal frequency and code division multiplexing (OFCDM) system, a potential candidate for the forth-generation (4G) mobile communication system, which increases throughput to 1Gbps at a bandwidth of 100MHz. According to NTT DoCoMo, the companies aimed to achieve 1Gbps because the conventional throughput of 100Mbps is inadequate for base stations where there is a high concentration of communications traffic in small areas, including the hotspot environment. The three companies reported the results of their simulation at "Mobile Communications Workshop" held at Yokosuka Research Park."<br /><br />Most of us lucky ones with data plans are in the 2.5G range with GPRS, or perhaps 1xRTT, but few markets have access to 3G speeds - and there's no 3G Smartphone as of yet to make matters worse. Meanwhile, Japan is pushing ahead with 4G tests. 8O

[Shaun]

What are they doing with all this bandwith ?

I live in the UK where the company "3" has been struggling to sell the 3g services mainly because few people want the hardware (the phones are still too big compared with most mobiles). They are literally giving them away free if you sign up to a contract.

They seemed to have changed their strategy recently - instead of promoting the additional functions such as video downloads/calls they are simply selling them based on lower call charges than 2.5g networks.

Seriously does anyone know what the typical usage of 3G phones in Asia looks like. How successful is it, who uses which services ?

[possmann]

I have to agree - it's a cool idea but who will pay for the service? When the cost drops low enough for the average user then companies will make money off it - but who wants to shell out a ton of cash/contract just so I can view TV programs or stream audio? Think of the cost to develop the infrastucture...

Still it is cool that we are pushing forward...

[Jason Dunn]

I live in the UK where the company "3" has been struggling to sell the 3g services mainly because few people want the hardware (the phones are still too big compared with most mobiles). They are literally giving them away free if you sign up to a contract.

Yeah, 3G hardware still has a long way to go - I've read that it usually runs quite hot, and the battery life is brutally bad. In terms of what people want to use the bandwidth for, well, for me it's just doing what I normally do, only must faster. Loading Web pages, even mobile-optimized ones, is brutal over GPRS - it's just not fast enough to be all that useful.