Japanese mobile carrier NTT DoCoMo will enable all future handsets to be GSM compatible, according to a report in the Daily Yomimuri. The paper says DoCoMo has set a timeline of making the change over the next two years. Currently only some KDDI and Vodafone (soon to be Softbank) handsets can be used on GSM networks outside of Japan. However, this MOVE doesn't mean international GSM handsets will be able to operate in Japan, currently one of the few places GSM phones don't work. DoCoMo's current FOMA handsets can only be used outside Japan in limited locations with compatible networks. This move to add GSM will mean more business for Motorola, Nokia and other manufacturers that build products for GSM markets.
May 22nd, 2006 at 10:12 am
Note sure if this is a one way street. Looks like DoCoMo is upgrading their Foma network software to allow European UMTS phones to roam on their FOMA network. Some models are alrady listed as compatible on their site. Taken together that means that future FOMA models can be more UMTS compliant so at some point the radio layer software for Japan and the rest of the world might be the same for UMTS. As a consequence it then becomes quite easy to have the GSM protocol stack and radio besides the UMTS part as you can use standard solutions.