Telecoms news from Japan

Fitch: Sony's Turnaround Plan a Long Haul

Fitch Ratings says Sony's bid to achieve a significant turnaround in its electronics business in the financial year ending March 2014 (FYE14) will be a challenge. ...more.

Japanese Criminals Express a Preference for DoCoMo Mobile Phones

Although it is the largest mobile network in Japan by subscriber numbers -- with a 45% market share -- NTT DoCoMo carries almost all the mobile traffic used by criminals, the National Police Agency has claimed. ...more.

Telenor Connexion to Offer M2M Services for KDDI Customers

Japan's KDDI is teaming up with Telenor Connexion to provide a global M2M service for its enterprise customers. ...more.

NTT DoCoMo Customers Details Leaked by Hackers

Customer data belonging to USA based customers of Japan's NTT DoCoMo have been published online after a computer system was hacked into by the LulzSec group. ...more.

Japanese Carriers Shuttering 3G as LTE Accelerate

Japan's total mobile infrastructure (2G, 3G, 4G) market surged 78% in 2012, to $3.9 billion, owing to a strong LTE push fueled by the three mobile networks, ...more.

Japan Smartphone Shipment Volume Grew 42.1% in 2012, Tablet Shipments Up 91.3%

Japan's smartphone shipment volumes in 4Q12 increased 29.2% year over year to 8.8 million units, according to an IDC report. The ratio of smartphone shipments to total mobile phone shipments increased to 77.9%. ...more.

NEC in Talks to Sell Mobile Handset Subsidiary

Japan's NEC is reportedly in talk to sell its mobile phone division to China's Lenovo group, although it may be talking to other buyers as well. ...more.

Japan to Field Test Solar-powered Green Base Stations

Japan's NTT DoCoMo has begun field testing three conventional mobile-network base stations that have been installed with solar panels, high-capacity rechargeable batteries and green power controllers. ...more.

Renesas Electronics Puts Mobile Chips Division up for Sale

Japan's Renesas Electronics has announced that it is start a review of the direction of its mobile business and may look to sell the division. ...more.

SoftBank Tests Balloon Based Emergency Base Station

Japan's SoftBank Mobile says that it has tested an emergency relay system that uses a balloon and a satellite to restore mobile phone coverage in areas affected by natural disasters. ...more.

Japan's DoCoMo tests 10Gbps Upload from Mobile Phones

Japan's NTT DoCoMo says that in a joint outdoor experiment conducted recently with the Tokyo Institute of Technology, it succeeded in the world's first packet transmission uplink rate of approximately 10 Gbps. ...more.

DOCOMO, China Mobile, KT Agree to Joint Wi-Fi Inbound Roaming

Three Asian mobile networks have agreed to lay out a joint Wi-Fi inbound roaming scheme covering Japan, China and Korea. ...more.

Japan's NTT DoCoMo Tests Active Antenna on Live LTE Network

Japan's NTT DoCoMo announced today that it has successfully connected an active antenna -- a device expected to be widely used in LTE base stations -- to a commercially operational LTE base station in an experiment. ...more.

Nokia Siemens Networks and Panasonic Mobile win LTE-A Contract

Nokia Siemens Networks and Panasonic Mobile Communications have been selected by NTT DoCoMo to develop mobile broadband network architecture for LTE-A. ...more.

DoCoMo to Develop Base Stations Utilizing C-RAN Architecture for LTE-A

Japan's NTT DoCoMo announced today it will begin developing high-capacity base stations built with C-RAN architecture for its coming next-generation LTE-Advanced (LTE-A) mobile system. ...more.

Japan's NTT DoCoMo Starts Trials of Location Based Discount Coupons

Japan's NTT DoCoMo has launched a trial of a location based service that offers discounts to consumers based on proximity to the retail store. ...more.

DoCoMo Develops 700MHz-compatible Multi-band Antenna for Base Stations

Japan's NTT DoCoMo announced today that it has developed Japan's first base station antenna that supports five frequency bands, including the newly allocated 700MHz band for LTE mobile telecommunications. ...more.

Japan's DoCoMo Signs Up 10 Millionth LTE Customer

Japan's NTT DoCoMo says that it's LTE customer base has passed the 10 million mark. ...more.

Fitch: Sony's Profitability Remains Fragile

Fitch Ratings says Sony's financial results for the third quarter of the financial year ending March 2013 revealed fragile profitability notwithstanding benefits associated with the peak season for the sale of electronics products and the yen beginning to weaken during the quarter. ...more.

BlackBerry Wont Launch New Smartphones in Japan

BlackBerry is to stop selling its handsets in Japan due to the combination of low market share and the high cost of modifying its phones for the local market, ...more.