WCDMA Coverage Expanding in Japan

Japan's DoCoMo says that from the end of this week, the service area for DoCoMo's FOMA 3G mobile phones will cover 99% of the population in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region. Its eight regional subsidiaries will also expand the FOMA service area to 96% of the population nationwide by the end of September.

In conjunction with this and to further upgrade service quality, NTT DoCoMo will also increase base station density within the FOMA network. Base stations, including inside high-rise buildings and underground shopping areas, will increase to 2,800 in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region, and to 8,400 nationwide. Number of base stations in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region and nationwide were 2,500 and 7,000, respectively, as of the end of June 2003.

Furthermore, the company's In-building Mobile Communication System will also be expanded to 167 buildings in Kanto-Koshinetsu and 300 building nationwide by the end of September. The number of buildings serviced under the system stood at 200 as of the end of June 2003.

NTT DoCoMo will continue to enhance its FOMA service at home. Specifically in Japan, FOMA is scheduled to cover the same service area as that for the PDC network in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region, and that for PDC in populated areas nationwide by the end of March 2004.

The Kanto-Koshinetsu region covers the Tokyo Metropolitan Area, and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Saitama, Gunma, Niigata, Yamanashi, and Nagano."

Posted to the site on 4th September 2003