3G's a go for DoCoMo

Reveling in i-mode's success, NTT DoCoMo continues with plans to roll out third generation services around Tokyo this May, despite the fact that most handset makers won't be ready.

Of the 11 companies that agreed to develop 3G handsets for DoCoMo, only two expect to have handsets ready by May — NEC and Matsushita Communication Industrial. Missing from that list are Ericsson and Nokia, two of the world's largest handset suppliers.

“For [Ericsson and Nokia], it's actually a big embarrassment. Everyone has been looking to them,” said Elizabeth Harr-Bricksin, vice president of international wireless for The Strategis Group.

It is unlikely, though, that DoCoMo will experience a shortage of handsets. According to multiple reports, the company only expects to sell 150,000 3G handsets during the first year of availability.

And DoCoMo's bullish attitude toward advanced wireless services apparently does not stop at the water's edge.

According to published reports, DoCoMo's managing director overseeing global strategy, Kiyoyuki Tsujimura, said that i-mode-based services would be offered through AT&T Wireless in June or July of 2002. By May, AT&T will establish a subsidiary dedicated to developing these services, he said.

So far, however, AT&T has not announced a time frame for creating the subsidiary. An AT&T spokesman declined to comment on the situation.

The apparent inconsistency could be traced to the varying degrees of success each company has experienced in mobile data, according to Harr-Bricksin.

“NTT is riding on the enormous success they've experienced in Japan…. AT&T, having served a more fickle customer base, is probably more cautious.”