WW-65

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J@pan Inc presents the Wireless Watch Japan Newsmagazine:
W I R E L E S S W A T C H J A P A N
Commentary on the Business of Wireless in Japan
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Issue No. 65 (Preview)
Monday, July 29, 2002
Tokyo

+++ Noteworthy News
--> NTT-ME to Start Live Image Delivery Service for FOMA
--> Low-flying Satellites Provide 3G, Broadband, HDTV
--> Japan's Hit Net-linking Cell Phone Service to Arrive in Spain
--> NTT DoCoMo Stands by Target for 3G Users

+++ Subscriber Statistics, Corrections, Credits, Administrivia

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+++ Noteworthy News
(Long URLs may break across two lines so copy to your browser.)

--> NTT-ME to Start Live Image Delivery Service for FOMA
http://www.nikkeibp.asiabiztech.com/wcs/leaf?CID=onair/asabt/cover/197861
Source: Nikkei AsiaBizTech, July 24

EXTRACT: NTT-ME Corp. plans to launch a service that will arrange and
operate live image delivery for FOMA services on July 29. To deliver
images to FOMA mobile phones, NTT-ME will use V Live, a pilot service
offered by NTT Corp. The new service will realize lower-priced image
delivery by using the Internet instead of dedicated lines for FOMA or
ISDN to deliver images taken to a V Live server. The service will come
with YouI Camera Connection Type, which will use YouI Camera, a live
camera with built-in encoding software exclusively for FOMA, and PC
Connection Type, under which users will transmit images taken by a
commercial video camera to a server using a personal computer installed
with encoding software.

COMMENTARY: The initial fee to deliver images (using the YouI camera) to
two FOMA phones will be 94,300 yen, with a monthly subscription fee of
13,950 yen; for the PC Connection version camera, the fee will be 386,300
yen, with a monthly subscription fee of 14,650 yen. No word about the
packet usage fees involved.

At these (steep) prices, this appears to be strictly a business service,
and as such will be one of the first B2B services targeted at FOMA's
bandwidth. So who needs it? Most likely, building sites, construction
companies and facilities operators, maintenance companies, architects,
design houses, and others needing to send images to remote locations.
There is some precedence for this; several months back, NTT DoCoMo
launched a trial using FOMA phones for on-site reporting used by a
construction company. We've also heard rumors of English lessons being
ffered to high-end clients using FOMA.

--> Low-flying Satellites Provide 3G, Broadband, HDTV
http://www.geek.com/news/geeknews/2002Jul/gee20020723015550.htm
Source: Geek.com, July 23

EXTRACT: AeroVironment's Helios, a 247-foot wingspanned fuel-cell powered
(the world's first) unmanned aerial vehicle, broke the record for non-
rocket powered altitude, reaching 96,863 feet. The UAV is solar-powered,
but charges onboard batteries to continue flying during the night.
AeroVironment has started a commercial interest company called SkyTower,
whose newest UAV, called the Pathfinder Plus, made a startling
demonstration recently. In cooperation with Japan's Ministry of
Telecommunications, SkyTower flew to 65,000 feet, maintained a
geostationary position, and provided broadband signal to a city. SkyTower
successfully provided a 24-Mbps connection using 1 watt of power with the
Pathfinder Plus. Off-the-shelf NTT DoCoMo handsets were tested, and
demonstrated video telephony. Wireless modems on laptops were tested at
384 Mbps speeds as well. The Pathfinder Plus also provided the world's
first digital high definition television (HDTV) broadcast transmission
from the stratosphere.

COMMENTARY: DoCoMo is the obvious key participant in at least one other
HDTV/mobile effort: a consortium of big-name media companies (including
Nippon Television Network, Tokyo Broadcasting System, and Fuji Television
-- see WW No. 51) aiming to launch terrestrial broadcasting to mobile
phones by 2003. In December 2001, Big D also ran a test broadcast together
with Hakuhodo (No. 1 ad agency), Tokyo Broadcasting System, NTT Data, and
others. The public beta (which ran on Dec. 20 and 21, according to DoCoMo
PR), saw a test broadcast of MPEG-7-encoded streaming media together with
TV-style ads.

TV via keitai is interesting if all the tech challenges can be worked out.
Of course, handset performance and battery life are still key gating
factors. Nonetheless, this is one more plank that supports the argument
that, since the creation of i-mode, DoCoMo has been evolving into a
"media" company (a la AOL). Scary.

Note: One comment on the Geek.com site that refers to this news item was:
"wow... cool... i hope some of this comes to be... we need to get the junk
out of space... it really dosent [sic] belong there."

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--> Japan's Hit Net-linking Cell Phone Service to Arrive in Spain
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20020724/
ap_wo_en_po/japan_mobile_phones_1
Source: Yahoo, July 24

EXTRACT: "i-mode," the hit Internet-linking service from Japan's biggest
mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo will be landing in Spain the first half of next
year. NTT DoCoMo said Wednesday it signed an agreement with Telefonica
Moviles SA and Telefonica Moviles Espana SA to provide patents and
technologies to offer the service, which is already offered in Taiwan, the
Netherlands, and Germany (in addition to Japan).

COMMENTARY: Telefonica Moviles Espana has about 17.6 million customers,
and will offer the service under the name "e-mocion." DoCoMo will also
provide i-mode to France's Bouygues Telecom (target launch: April 2003).
This is further evidence that the i-mode model works independently of the
culture in which it germinated. No word on which handset will be used, but
if it's the NEC N21i (used for i-mode in Germany and Holland), the handset
supports English, French, German, Italian, Dutch, and Spanish, so we guess
we'll see i-mode in the UK and Italy next.

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--> NTT DoCoMo Stands by Target for 3G Users
http://money.iwon.com/jsp/nw/nwdt_rt.jsp?cat=USMARKET&src=201&feed=
reu§ion=news&news_id=reu-tav094464&date=20020726&alias=
/alias/money/cm/nw
Source: Reuters reported on iwon.com, July 26

EXTRACT: NTT DoCoMo said on Friday it stands by its original target to
acquire 1.38 million subscribers in Japan for its 3G service by next
March, despite a slow start. It said that even if it missed the 3G target
there would be little impact on its earnings.

COMMENTARY: Some analysts remain bullish on DoCoMo, so the company's
optimism is not totally misplaced. CSFB's Mark Berman recently wrote:
"DoCoMo's share price has had a higher correlation with global telcos in
the past 12 months than it has with its domestic peers. Largely for this
reason DoCoMo has under-performed its domestic peers even as its profit
and cash flow outlook have improved." WWJ thinks this year will be a good
one for FOMA, despite the pathetic start and KDDI's overwhelming CDMA 3G
lead. Why? FOMA already covers some 60% of the population; as soon as they
can get the ministry on side (and can guarantee service), they will start
to push the system. DoCoMo hasn't yet turned on the marketing and promo
afterburners for FOMA, and when it does, watch out!

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+++ Subscriber Statistics, Corrections, Credits, Administrivia

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STAFF
WWJ video newsmagazine researched, edited and hosted and email
newsletter researched and written by:
Daniel Scuka (daniel@wirelesswatchjapan.com)
WWJ video newsmagazine produced and edited by:
Lawrence Cosh-Ishii (video@wirelesswatchjapan.com)
in cooperation with Video-Link.com, helloNetworkAsia
(www.hellonetwork.co.jp) and IntaDev Inc. (www.intadev.com)

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