eurotechnology.japan.blog

On March 31, 2007 eMobile will start high-speed (3.6 Mbps, HSDPA) mobile data services in Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, bringing disruption into the mobile data market in Japan.

While Willcom offers a flat data rate of YEN 9000 (US$ 77) per month for unlimited data transmission at 128kbps, eMobile will offer 30 times higher speed at about 1/2 the price:

3.6Mbps for PDAs, laptops and PCs for YEN 4980 (US$ 43, EURO 32) per month flat rate without any data limit (and n.b. no "fair use limit" as many European operators impose in the fine-print). .... and yes- you can probably also do wireless VOIP or Skype if you set this up yourself.

The established mobile operators (DoCoMo, KDDI/AU and SoftBank) do not offer any flat data rate to connecting PCs and laptops.

eMobile offers the EM-ONE terminal:
- data download at 3.6 Mbps (wCDMA-HSDPA)
- wLAN (IEEE 802.11b/g)
- Windows mobile 5.0
- digital mobile TV
- 4.1inch VGA (800 x 480) LCD display by SHARP
- camera (with QR-Code reader etc)

(By the way- did you ever wonder why new entrants love flat rates? it's because telecom billing systems are so expensive and complex. Flat rates are one of many competitive weapons new entrants have over incumbents...)





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Labels: 3g, eaccess, emobile, hsdpa, hspda, voip, wimax

On Sunday, March 18, 2007, about 100 transportation companies in the Tokyo region switched to the near-field electronic money and payment system PASMO. Electronic money is a new battle field which JR-East pioneered with SUICA. 7 & I is still to throw it's weight into the battle - read about today's status of the electronic money marketplace in our "Mobile Payment and Keitai Credit" report.


A new multi-billion dollar power? Here is the character for PASMO: with an antenna on the hat, a pocket on the chest to store PASMO away, and wheels on the shoes, and in cherry-blossom pink... Does this cherry-blossom-pink guy look like he represents a new US$ multi-billion economic power?





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Labels: ecash, electronic money, mobile payment, nanaco, nfc, pasmo, rfid, suica, tokyo

Presentation at the Lunch meeting of the Finnish Chamber of Commerce in Japan (FCCJ) on March 16, 2007 at the Westin Hotel, Tokyo.

Find the summary and photos of the meeting here

Download the presentation here

From the Announcement:

In his presentation, Dr. Fasol will explain the essentials of Japan's mobile phone market, why and how it is so different to Europe's. He will also talk about some of the reasons why it is so difficult for European companies to succeed and uncover opportunities and the keys to success for European companies in this important market.

Labels: docomo, handy, Japan, KDDI, keitai, mobile phone, nokia, softbank

CLSA - Asia-Pacific Markets - last week organized the "CLSA Japan Forum" here in Tokyo. About 800-1000 investment bankers, portfolio managers, investors, analysts came together. Since last year interest of global investors in Japan has increased a lot.

Eurotechnology Japan KK participated actively, and on Friday March 2, 2007, gave a presentation on:

"Impact of mobile payment and the future of money"

The presentation covers the following agenda:
- Can e-money and mobile payment replace cash?
- Example: mobile payment for the world's busiest train line
- DoCoMo's target for mobile payments
- Japan's mobile payment and keitai credit landscape
- Free markets vs regulation
- Mifare and Felica chips and radio communications (NFC)
- Who drives mobile payments
- Growth of SUICA
- DoCoMo's mobile payment and keitai credit strategy
- Edy - electronic cash
- A major bank's mobile payment system
- Impact
- Where to invest - who to watch
- Summary

"Impact of mobile payment and the future of money" (download here)

"Mobile payment and keitai credit (download here)


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Labels: docomo, edy, felica, mobile payment, suica, walletphone