NTT DoCoMo Initiates Super 3G Trials in Japan
July 20, 2007
According to a Nikkei report, Japanese NTT DoCoMo is testing a mobile phone system in Japan based on the Super 3G, or 3.9G technology, which is also known as LTE (Long Term Evolution). The new system, expected to be commercialized in 2009, will allow for a maximum downlink speed of 300 Mbps, as compared to 14 Mbps of the current HSPA (High Speed Packet Access) technology. NTT DoCoMo has been testing the basic performance of Super 3G, as well as the inter-base station handover function, voice and image transmission, and various applications. Further experiments include employing the Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) technology to achieve the aforementioned maximum downlink speed.