Eurotechnology telecom services:

Eurotechnology Japan KK works in Tokyo since 1996/1997. We have worked with many mobile and fix-net telecom operators from most areas in the world.

News

- "Will The iPhone Trigger A Turning Point In Japan's Mobile Phone Industry?", panel discussion by Tetsuzo Matsumoto, Senior Exec VP and Board Member of SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp., and Gerhard Fasol of Eurotechnology-Japan, at the Foreign Correspondents Club in Tokyo, Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 12:00-14:00

- watch the video clips of our CEO's interviews on CNBC

- more news

Japan's 3G success story

This report reviews Japan's 3G market: operators, handsets, software, infrastructure, and services, and the difficulties which had to be overcome to make 3G a success. As Japan's 3G market is several years ahead of most other markets, this report includes answers to the question how other markets can learn from Japan's 3G introduction.
Version 18 of August 28, 2008,
approx. 167 pages, 41 Figures, 48 Photos, 2 Tables, pdf-format, 5.2 Mbyte
[BUY and DOWNLOAD] Corporate license: US$ 2375| [info]|[Sample pages]
Version 18 of August 28, 2008,
approx. 167 pages, 41 Figures, 48 Photos, 2 Tables, pdf-format, 5.2 Mbyte
[BUY and DOWNLOAD] Single copy license: US$ 475| [info]|[Sample pages]

3G mobile in Japan:

What are third generation (3G) mobile communications?

Second generation (2G) mobile communications (PDC in Japan, GSM in Europe and most other mobile networks in the world) have relatively slow data transmission rates, up to 29.8 kbps in the case of PDC in Japan, and high transmission costs for data, and limited voice capacity. In the initial stage Third Generation (3G) offers 384 kbps (download) and 64 kbps (upload) data rates, and 3.6 Mbps with the HSDPA upgrade which is now offered nationwide in Japan. High data transmission rates at low costs allow mobile operators to transmit pictures, JAVA applications, video clips, music and other data with high speed and at fixed monthly data rates. High data transmission rates at fixed monthly fees encourage the development of content industries, mobile music business, and mobile commerce.

Initially in many markets 3G mobile communications were marketed and announced as enabling video telephony. In actual fact however, consumer interest in video telephony is relatively low, and the globally first successful 3G operator did not offer any video telephony at all, and made 3G a success without video telephony.

Technically 3G can be upgraded to data rates on the order of 10 Mbps.

3G in Japan: 84% of all mobile subscriptions are for 3G

DoCoMo introduced 3G mobile services branded "FOMA" on a limited test basis in May 2001, and introduced full commercial service starting in the Tokyo region in October 2001, several years earlier than Europe, USA and other regions. However, as the globally first operator introducing 3G on full commercial scale, DoCoMo had to overcome many technical difficulties with handsets, and had to develop attractive services for customers. KDDI introduced CDMA 2000-1x services from November 28, 2003, about two years later than DoCoMo, could learn to some extent from DoCoMo's mistakes and for considerable time KDDI's 3G services were much more successful than DoCoMo's in terms of customer acceptance.

At the end of June 2008, there were 108.3 Million mobile phone subscriptions in Japan (2G, 3G, and PHS subscriptions), of which 90.8 Million were 3G subscribers, ie about 84% of all mobile subscriptions in Japan are for 3G services. 98.7% of KDDI's subscriptions are for 3G services.

What is the "killer application" for 3G mobile communications? Is there a "killer application"?

Around 2000, when 3G mobile communications were technically possible, but not yet introduced to the market, there were many discussions but no actual knowledge about consumer acceptance of 3G mobile communications. Many discussions were focusing on what the "killer application" for 3G mobile communications would be.

Now with more than 7 years of 3G services and more than 90 million 3G-only subscriptions, Japan gives a very good picture of how 3G communications are likely to develop a few years from now in Europe and US. Actually, our company was engaged by the European Union, by the Government of Finland, and many telecom operators are using our work to learn from Japan's development of 3G services.