KDDI eyes current voice method for advanced mobile system

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KDDI Corp intends to maintain the CDMA 2000 method, used for the current third-generation mobile services, for voice communications in future advanced mobile services, company officials have said. The so-called 3.9G mobile services, which offer broadband wireless access at a speed comparable to that of asymmetric digital subscriber lines, are expected to be launched around 2010.

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For data transmission, however, KDDI plans to adopt the Long Term Evolution, or LTE, technology, an internationally supported method to be compatible with the wideband code division multiple access, or W-CDMA, mobile method now used by its rivals NTT DoCoMo Inc and Softbank Mobile Corp, the officials said.

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While Japan’s telecommunications ministry mulling deregulation to allow users to switch their mobile carriers by changing the integrated circuit cards in their handsets, no unification of the next-generation mobile platforms is likely to delay the realization of that convenience.

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As the 3.9G method is viewed as a transitional technology to the 4G system, which offers transmission speeds as fast as fiber-optic networks, KDDI apparently hopes to put off fully unifying the specifications until the 4G era or later.

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