New carrier: mobile broadband access with inexpensive flat rates.EMOBILE, a new carrier, unfolded its service plans and terminal line up for the domestic market. The company will offer flat rate mobile broadband Description Mobile Broadband is a type of wireless internet access that differs from Wi-Fi. Mobile Broadband is the name used to describe the 3G services which are made possible by HSDPA and HSUPA, the latest technologies on the W-CDMA evolutionary path. services and voice. EMOBILE is member of the eAccess Group-an ADSL See DSL. ADSL - Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line wholesale provider. Goldman Sachs and TBS, a Tokyo-based broadcasting company, are financially backing EMOBILE's market expansion. Initially, only mobile data services are offered. EMOBILE's flat rate mobile broadband data services start on March 31 using the 3.5G HSPDA See HSPA. technology. Maximum data speeds are 3.6Mbps downlink and 384kbps uplink. Network coverage is initially limited to Tokyo, Nagoya, Osaka and Kyoto. Voice services will be launched in March 2008 through a 3G roaming agreement with NTT DoCoMo. EMOBILE expects to have constructed its own nationwide network by October 2010. Pricing is attractive. The flat rate-all you can eat-data services cost JPY JPY In currencies, this is the abbreviation for the Japanese Yen. Notes: The currency market, also known as the Foreign Exchange market, is the largest financial market in the world, with a daily average volume of over US $1 trillion. 5,980 per month. Nothing has been mentioned about the pricing of its planned voice services. Piggybacking Gaining access to a restricted communications channel by using the session another user already established. Piggybacking can be defeated by logging out before leaving a workstation or terminal or by initiating a protected mode, such as via a screensaver, that requires re-authentication the DoCoMo voice network will make it difficult, however, to offer very cheap voice rates challenging the incumbent carriers. EMOBILE will offer NEC's mobile data cards (PCMCIA (Personal Computer Memory Card International Association, San Jose, CA, www.pcmcia.org) An international standards body and trade association that was founded in 1989 to establish a standard for connecting peripherals to portable computers. PCMCIA created the PC Card. See PC Card. ) for laptop usage. The card costs JPY4,980 with a 1-year flat rate data plan. In co-operation with Sharp, a small mobile terminal (EM-ONE) has been developed running on Windows Mobile 5.0. The 4.1-inch screen has 800x400 pixels that allows viewing web sites without horizontal scrolling. Bluetooth and WiFi (IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, New York, www.ieee.org) A membership organization that includes engineers, scientists and students in electronics and allied fields. 802.11b/g) are also supported. It is not clear if the EM-ONE supports voice services once these are launched by EMOBILE. Microphone and speakers are built-in, though but to make it suitable for voice communications, a firmware upgrade mightbe necessary. The 250-gram device comes with a QWERTY-keyboard and is able to receive the one-segment mobile digital broadcasting. Unfortunately, users have to bring the power cord wherever they go, as the battery life is limited to four hours. The EM-ONE costs JPY39,800 with a 2-year flat rate data plan. The new service could be a hit for mobile laptop access. PHS (Personal Handyphone System) A TDMA-based cellular phone system introduced in Japan in mid-1995. Operating in the 1880-1930 MHz band, PHS uses microcells that cover an area only 100 to 500 meters in diameter, resulting in lower equipment costs but requiring more base network service provider Willcomm offers flat rate 128kbps data services for JPY10,000 per month. EMOBILE is undercutting these prices in combination with higher bandwidth. EMOBILE's current offering is way behind Willcomm-the terminal is more expensive than Willcomm's ZERO3 device, voice is not supported and coverage is limited. Better devices, a rapidly expanding network, and deep pockets will make from EMOBILE not only a challenger but also a real competitor after 2010. |
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