KDDI Corporation
Okinawa Cellular Telephone Company

2002.3.11

KDDI Announces Launch of CDMA2000 1x Third-Generation
Wireless Service in Major Japanese Cities

New GPS handset with built-in Camera to Enter Market



Tokyo, March 11, 2002-- KDDI Corp. and Okinawa Cellular Telephone Co. will launch a 144kbps high-speed CDMA2000 1x third-generation cellular phone service simultaneously in major cities across Japan from April 1, 2002.

Five new CDMA2000 1x (hereafter, CDMA2000) mobile handsets will also be released, including the "A3012CA", which has a GPS service and is equipped with a 350,000-pixel high-quality camera.

CDMA2000 is recognized by the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) to be an IMT-2000 third-generation cellular communications system. Initially, 2GHz bands were required for accreditation, but the ITU later determined that frequency bands other than 2GHz, such as 800MHz bands, were acceptable in IMT-2000 systems. Overseas, six countries-including the U.S. and South Korea-and 11 companies have already begun CDMA2000 services, and 12 countries-including China, Australia and New Zealand-and 29 companies are considering commercialization.


Third Generation Cellular Phones (CDMA2000 1x)
KDDI and its "au" wireless service pioneered the development of 64kbps packet telecommunications networks across Japan, and will create a more enjoyable wireless Internet environment with data transmissions of up to 144kbps. The service will give users of the EZweb wireless Internet service, various internet service providers and users of local area network (LAN) connections download transmission speeds of up to 144kbps and upload transmission speeds of up to 64kbps.

From April 1, CDMA2000 services will cover 33 municipalities-including Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya and 12 other major cities in Japan-and 477 regional communities. KDDI plans to expand services gradually to other parts so that, by the end of 2002, 90 percent of the population will be within the CDMA2000 service area. Since CDMA2000 handsets can still offer conventional services such as voice communications and 64kbps data transmission even outside those areas offering 144kbps data transmission, customers can use their phones anywhere in the country without worrying about the area they are in.

In April 2002, KDDI plans to launch five new CDMA2000 handsets. These new models are compatible with the GPS 'eznavigation' personal positioning service, with 'ezplus,' which can run JavaTM applications and with WAP 2.0, allowing users access to unofficial i-mode sites. As with the A3012CA GPS handset, which is equipped with a 350,000-pixel high-quality CMOS camera, all these handsets meet customer needs for compact, lightweight, handsets with extended life cycles and low prices.

In the future, KDDI plans to upgrade the Movie handset, which is compatible with the 'ezmovie' moving image distribution system, aiming to provide users with richer content, alternative uses and a variety of business solutions.

* Transmission speed is on a best effort basis and may be reduced depending on circuit congestion.
* The transmission speed and built-in functions for EZweb vary according to each handset.
* Java and other trademarks related to Java in the U.S. and other countries are the trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc.


Countries and Companies Adopting CDMA2000 1x
Region Company Name (Country Name)
Asia,
Pacific		 KTFreetel / LGTelecom / SKTelecom(South Korea), KDDI(Japan), ChinaUnicom(China), Telstra(Australia), TelecomMobile(New Zealand), SaigonPostal(Vietnam), RelianceInfocom(India)
North
America		 LeapWireless / MonetMobileNetworks / VerizonWireless / AirGatePCS / AlamosaPCS / ALLTELCommunications / EnterpriseCommunications / GeorgiaPCS / GulfCoastWireless / HorizonPCS / IndependentWirelessOne / NorthernPCS / Shentle / SprintPCS / SwiftelCommunications / UbiquiTel / USCellular / USUnwired(U.S.), BellMobility / TelusMobility(Canada)
Central and
South America		 TelespCelular / GlobalTelecom(Brazil),Centennial(Puerto Rico), PegasoPCS(Mexico), SmartComPCS (Chile), CentennialDominicana (Dominican Republic), CentennialDigitalJamaica (Jamaica), Movilnet / Telcel (Venezuela)
Europe Telemobil (Romania), CSTInvest(Ukraine)
indicates companies that have concluded commercialization; remaining companies are still considering commercialization or trial (Source: Web site of CDMA Development Group).


CDMA2000 Service Area

  • In areas with CDMA2000 coverage, CDMA2000 compatible handsets are able to offer up to 144 kbps data transmission. Outside these areas, (in areas with cdmaOne coverage) CDMA2000 handsets can still offer conventional services such as voice communications and 64kbps data transmission.

  • cdmaOne handsets will continue to work in areas with CDMA2000 coverage

    Percentage of population covered by CDMA2000
    April 1, 2002:70% in Kanto, Chubu, Kansai
    (33 municipalities and 477 regional communities covered)
    By end of 2002:90% percent in Kanto, Chubu, Kansai.
    (Aims to cover 85 percent of population nationwide)

Charging Schemes and new Handsets --- Detail including photos on following pages



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