True to its word, Japanese telco NTT DoCoMo will launch the world's first 3G network on 1 October. Called FOMA - Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access - the service will give subscribers based in Tokyo 64Kbps real-time video, a maximum 384Kbps downlink, and maximum 64Kbps uplink and of course the ability to make phone calls. Tariffs are unannounced at the moment with the company only giving vague "basic principles" of what it will charge, like "suitable for the age of multimedia" and "facilitate smooth migration from existing phones". There will be special introductory offers to get people on the service from October to March next year, including Y1,000 of free calls to encourage people to try the new data services. Which is great until you realise that equates to £5.80. Oh well. Billing is apparently going to be based more on Europe's approach, which presumably means a flat-fee with some free calls and the rest paid for depending on time connected (rather than amount of data downloaded) - but we can't be sure as yet.
News source: The Reg
