Nikkei: NTT to take over Docomo

NTT Group is preparing to buy back all shares of publically- traded DOCOMO, making it once again a wholly-owned subsidiary, according to Nikkei. The article cites pressure from the new Suga administration to lower mobile prices. The news also puts pressure on rivals Softbank and KDDI.

NTT Group currently retains about 66% equity in DOCOMO.

https://asia.nikkei.com/Business/Business-deals/NTT-to-take-over-wireless-unit-Docomo-for-38bn

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AT&T and NTT DOCOMO enter 5G roaming pact

AT&T announced a 5G international roaming agreement with NTT DOCOMO.

“As a longtime industry leader providing global connectivity, we’re evolving the breadth and depth of our global coverage with 5G,” said Susan A. Johnson, executive vice president – Global Connections & Supply Chain, AT&T. “This marks a significant milestone for AT&T and our customers.”

“We’re excited to launch 5G roaming in Japan on NTT DOCOMO, Inc.’s network because of what it means for our customers,” said JR Wilson, vice president – Tower Strategy & Roaming, AT&T. “Our teams never stop innovating, developing and deploying the latest technology to provide our customers with access to a next-generation network – at home and abroad.”

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Docomo launches multi-streaming on its 5G TV service

DOCOMO introduced a multistreaming capability for its "Hikari TV for docomo" service, making it possible to watch up to 7 programs simultaneously on a compatible Docomo 5G smartphone and app.

The multi-multistreaming is available from Docomo's catalog of 18 channels.

https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/info/news_release/2020/06/01_00.html

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NTT Docomo launches its 5G service

NTT DOCOMO officially launched its 5G commercial service, boasting initial downlink speeds up to 3.4 Gbps at launch and increasing to peak speeds of 4.1 Gbps in June.


Initially, DOCOMO's 5G is available in 150 locations nationwide and will be rolled out to all prefectures by the end of June 2020. Service activation is 25-March-2020.

Pricing is posted below.

The company is offering six DOCOMO smartphones, one DOCOMO tablet, and one data communication product (Wi-Fi router), and a total of 13 Galaxy S20 + 5G Tokyo 2020 Olympic models via its retail channels.

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NTT DOCOMO picks Cisco's segment routing to optimize 5G backhaul

NTT DOCOMO has selected Cisco's Network Convergence System routers and segment routing for network slicing to help optimize its 5G mobile backhaul.

Cisco said its converged SDN transport, with segment routing, and Network Convergence System routers can provide massive scale, full programmability, simpler cloud integration and service level agreements.

“The IP network plays a more important role with 5G than ever before,” said Jonathan Davidson, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Cisco Service Provider Business. “Networks have to be automated, programmable and capable of massive scale. Together, DOCOMO and Cisco mapped out the right path for its 5G transformation with a new intelligent, software-defined network. Converging services over a common, trustworthy architecture will reduce costs, deliver new services that span multiple domains, and prepare them for a profitable 5G future.”

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DOCOMO invests in Wiliot for Bluetooth sensors

NTT DOCOMO Ventures made an equity investment in Wiliot Ltd., a start-up based in Caesarea, Israel, that has developed sticker-sized, always-on Bluetooth sensor tags that can operate without battery and can be used for object tracking solutions.

Wiliot's cloud-connected sensor, which is the size of a postage stamp, offers Bluetooth and RFID. It can operate battery-free by capturing the electric power of radio waves from Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, etc. In addition to transmitting encrypted ID information, the product is able to detect temperature levels and product pickup movements without special sensor devices. Any Bluetooth Low Energy communication device such as a phone, smart speaker and many Wi-Fi access points can receive information from the product. Later this year Wiliot expects to announce mass production of its product.

https://www.wiliot.com/

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NTT DOCOMO aims for 6G in 2030

NTT DOCOMO published a white paper outlining its ambition to launch 6G commercial services by 2030.

The white paper summarizes the related technical concepts and the expected diverse use cases of evolving 5G and new 6G communication technologies, as well as the technology components and performance targets. DOCOMO has 6G research and development programs underway. In 2018, the company conducted successful radio wave propagation experiments at frequencies of up to 150 GHz, levels which are expected to enable the much faster and larger-capacity communications that 6G will require.

DOCOMO said it will continue to enhance the ultra-high-speed, large-capacity, ultra-reliable, low-latency and massive device-connectivity capabilities of 5G technology. It will continue its research into and development of 5G evolution and 6G technology, aiming to realize technological advances including:

• the achievement of a combination of advances in connectivity, including ultra-high speed, large capacity and low latency
• the pioneering of new frequency bands, including terahertz frequencies
• the expansion of communication coverage in the sky, at sea and in space
• the provision of ultra-low-energy and ultra-low-cost communications
• the ensuring of highly reliable communications
• the capability of massive device-connectivity and sensing

https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/binary/pdf/corporate/technology/whitepaper_6g/DOCOMO_6G_White_PaperEN_20200124.pdf

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NTT DOCOMO tests 5G transparent metasurface

NTT DOCOMO is testing a prototype transparent dynamic metasurface using 28 GHz 5G radio signals.

The new metasurface, which was developed in collaboration with global glass manufacturer AGC Inc., achieves dynamic manipulation of radio-wave reflection and penetration in a highly transparent package suitable for unobtrusive use in the windows of buildings and vehicles as well as on billboards. AGC manufactured the optically transparent metasurface using microfabrication techniques, based on a theoretical model proposed and designed by DOCOMO.

NTT DOCOMO said the metasurface can manipulate radio waves in accordance with the specific installation environment, particularly in locations not suited to the installation of base stations, such as built-up areas or in indoor areas where reception needs to be blocked selectively, such as in high-security areas.

The metasurface consists of a large number of sub-wavelength unit cells placed in a periodic arrangement on a two-dimensional surface covered with a glass substrate. Moving the glass substrate slightly enables dynamic control of radio waves in three modes: full penetration of incident radio waves, partial reflection of incident radio waves and full reflection of all radio waves. Compared to conventional methods using semiconductors, this new design offers two advantages: it allows dynamic control while maintaining transparency of the window and it facilitates enlargement of the substrate.

The prototype transparent dynamic metasurface will be presented during DOCOMO Open House 2020, which will take place in the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition complex in Tokyo this week.

https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2020/0117_00.html

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NTT DOCOMO and MobiledgeX to conduct MEC demo

NTT DOCOMO and MobiledgeX will jointly conduct a proof of concept (PoC) in Tokyo on January 22–24 to verify a solution that leverages multi-access edge computing (MEC) for the worldwide distribution of applications.

In the PoC, a “markerless” augmented-reality (AR) application based on the Edge Realities platform offered by 1000 realities, a Poland-based software studio, will be distributed to the MEC platform, DOCOMO Open Innovation Cloud, connected to 5G and LTE networks operated by DOCOMO in Japan. Edge Realities uses space-recognition technology to superimpose AR content on real objects and large spaces without using place markers. Thanks to outsourcing all computation to the MEC platform and its low-latency network, Edge Realities will be fully hardware agnostic and useable on hardware that does not have native AR capabilities. The MEC platform will enable the content to be positioned in space and displayed, without any time lag. Tanseisha Co., Ltd. and DOCOMO Innovations, Inc. will support the PoC. The event will take place in the Tokyo Big Sight exhibition complex in Tokyo.

MobiledgeX’s solution offers a developer portal site for distributing applications to MEC infrastructure, such as servers and storage systems, located on the edges of mobile operator networks that are close to customers in markets overseas.

DOCOMO and MobiledgeX aim to collaborate on a range of 5G solutions for the global market, which will be distributed in cooperation with partners in Japan and other countries.

https://mobiledgex.com/press-releases/2020/01/08/ntt-docomo-and-mobiledgex-demonstrate-worldwide-distribution-of-5g-applications-in-japan

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DOCOMO invests in Metawave for 5G beamsteering

NTT DOCOMO Ventures has made an equity investment in Metawave, a start-up based in Palo Alto, California that is developing an analog beamsteering radar platform and 5G platforms which consist of active repeater and passive relay technologies. Financial terms were not disclosed.

DENSO, the world’s second-largest mobility supplier, led the funding round, and other investors included Mirae Asset Capital, and existing investors including BOLD Capital Partners.

Metawave is working on the extension of 5G radio coverage beyond line of sight from cell towers. 5G utilizes millimeter waves (mmWave) with higher frequencies and shorter wavelengths, which require innovative and advanced analog antenna technology to expand the radio coverage. Metawave’s passive relays are beautifully designed “smart mirrors” that bend and direct signals in areas of lower coverage.

NTT DOCOMO successfully conducted a 5G trial using 28GHz trial site and the passive relays utilizing Meta-structure antenna technologies in November 2018 .

As for the radar platform, Metawave is mainly focusing on the automobile industry.

“To be able to work on innovative hardware, system, software, and AI platforms in such high-growth markets is exciting and challenging,” said Maha Achour, founder and CEO of Metawave. “When I see our automotive partners excited about our radar capabilities and telecom customers demonstrating impressive results using our 5G solutions, I’m inspired and proud to lead a fearless team who has been delivering incredible results in less than 18 months from opening our development center in Carlsbad. Consumer expectations and business demands are increasing with the advent of new technologies, especially in mobility and connectivity, and being able to work closely with 5G and automotive leaders helps us visualize the future and continuously adapt as roads become safer and people strive to be more productive.”

https://www.nttdocomo-v.com/en/release/ecux5rkb7y/

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DOCOMO invests $20M in Tata Capital Growth Fund II

NTT DOCOMO will invest US$20 million in the Tata Capital Growth Fund II LP in Singapore managed by Tata Capital Growth II General Partners LLP with the aim of investment focusing on growth-stage companies in India.

DOCOMO has established a cooperative partnership with Tata Sons Private Limited aimed at contributing to their mutual businesses as well as the industrial development of both Japan and India. As part of collaboration, DOCOMO has decided to invest in Indian-based growth-stage startup companies through the fund managed by Tata Capital Growth II General Partners LLP, which is an indirect subsidiary of Tata Capital Limited in India.

https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2019/1002_00.html

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DOCOMO tests 28 GHz-band 5G aboard Shinkansen

NTT DOCOMO achieved the first 28 GHz-band 5G mobile communications between base stations and a high-speed bullet train during experimental trials with Central Japan Railway Company (JR Central).

The test was conducted between a 5G experimental mobile terminal, installed in a test version of an N700S-model Shinkansen railcar traveling at 283 km/h, and 5G experimental base stations erected temporarily along the Tokaido Shinkansen tracks. DOCOMO reports  speeds exceeding 1.0 Gbps and consecutive handover among three base stations located along the tracks. The transmissions were facilitated with advanced beamforming and beam tracking technologies incorporated in the 5G experimental mobile and base stations. Also, ultra-high-definition 8K video contents were rapidly downloaded from the base stations for delivery to the railcar's mobile terminal and 4K video of the passing scenery was relayed live from the railcar's mobile terminal to the base stations.

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DOCOMO commits to multivendor O-RAN for 4G/5G

NTT DOCOMO has commenced deployment of a 4G/5G multivendor radio access network conforming to O-RAN specifications.

Working in collaboration with Fujitsu, NEC, and Nokia, DOCOMO has demonstrated multi-vendor interoperability across a variety of 4G and 5G base station equipment compatible with O-RAN. The O-RAN standards include fronthaul specifications and X2 profile specifications.

O-RAN fronthaul specifications are used to establish the connections between centralized units hosting baseband processing and remote units hosting radio processing in 5G remote-installed base stations. O-RAN fronthaul interface specifications provide a foundation for interoperability between centralized units and remote units of 5G remote-installed base stations manufactured by diverse partners.

The O-RAN X2 profile specifications provide a foundation for interoperability between 4G base stations and 5G base stations manufactured by diverse partners in 5G non-standalone (5G NSA) networks by taking 3GPP X2 interface specifications and specifying detailed standards for their usage. 5G NSA networks connect devices using both 4G and 5G technologies.

DOCOMO believes this represents the world's first realization of this level of multi-vendor interoperability in 4G and 5G base station equipment conforming to O-RAN specifications. The ability to deploy and interconnect base station equipment from different vendors will make it possible to select the equipment most suitable for deployment in any given environment, such as base stations offering broad coverage in rural areas or small base stations that can be deployed in urban areas where space is limited.

DOCOMO will deploy the equipment in the pre-commercial 5G service it plans to launch on September 20, 2019 in Japan.
https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2019/0918_00.html

Fujitsu delivers 5G base station products to NTT DOCOMO

Wednesday, July 31, 2019  5G, Fujitsu, Japan, O-RAN  

Fujitsu Limited has begun delivery of 5G base station products, comprising of Central Unit (CU, 1) and Radio Unit (RU, 2), to NTT DOCOMO for its commercial 5G network.

The 5G CU products that Fujitsu has started delivering realize the 5G system through a proprietary software design from the company using software-defined radio technology, which can implement different wireless technologies on the same hardware.

The 5G RU products have built-in antennas (which had conventionally been installed externally) equipped with beam forming, enabling efficient network deployments. These RU products have a lineup consisting of 3 types of equipment that support 5G frequencies (the 3.7 GHz band, the 4.5 GHz band, and the 28 GHz band). he products are compliant with the O-RAN fronthaul interface specifications. Using this open interface, Fujitsu's products can connect to various vendors CU/RU products. The products also support 3GPP's (Release 15) specifications.

Fujitsu said it has been working with NTT DOCOMO to develop a CU and RUs that comply with the O-RAN fronthaul interface specifications

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DOCOMO invests in RAFAY for Kubernetes federation

NTT DOCOMO Ventures has made an equity investment in RAFAY SYSTEMS, a start-up developing a unique lifecycle management system for containerized applications.

RAFAY builds on top of Kubernetes to deliver multi-cluster federation, runtime configuration updates, and cluster and application blueprinting.

The investment was part of an $8 million Series A round that was led by Ridge Ventures and also included Costanoa Ventures and Moment Ventures. The company previously raised $4.1m in seed funding. RAFAY says its solution enables service providers to securely and scalably distribute and operate applications in any environment while reducing reliance on resource-intensive, in-house developed tools.

RAFAY is based in Sunnyvale, CA and led by CEO and Cofounder, Haseeb Budhani.

“Kubernetes is a crucial innovation that has fast-tracked the industry’s adoption of containerized applications running in any cloud, hybrid or edge environment,” said Haseeb Budhani, CEO and Cofounder, Rafay Systems. “But Kubernetes presents a steep learning curve to companies embarking on app modernization journeys. At Rafay, we are on a mission to make Kubernetes easy to consume by any company, regardless of how far along they are on their journey. The Rafay platform empowers DevOps teams to focus on their business critical software development instead of building and maintaining complex internal tools.”

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DOCOMO trials 5G in factories with OMRON and Nokia

NTT DOCOMO is working with OMRON Corporation and Nokia to test 5G mobile communication technology inside factories, with the aim of significantly enhancing future manufacturing productivity.

During the trials, DOCOMO, OMRON and Nokia aim to prove the feasibility of using 5G connectivity to create layout-free production lines using Autonomous Mobile Robots—robots that are able to act autonomously in complex and changing environments—as well as the feasibility of human-machine collaboration inside manufacturing plants.

https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2019/0910_00.html

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DOCOMO resumes sales of Huawei's flagship P30

NTT DOCOMO resumed accepting reservations for the HUAWEI P30 Pro smartphone.

The device is expected to be released in Japan in September. The Japanese mobile operator had earlier suspended planned sales of the flagship Huawei device.

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DOCOMO invests in Light Field Lab for holographic displays

NTT DOCOMO Ventures has made an equity investment in LIGHT FIELD LAB, Inc. (LFL), a start-up developing display technology that enables a holographic objects to float in space without head-mounted accessories.

LFL’s projection technology is a new advancement in 3D holographic displays, enabling the control of billions of rendered photons of light which intersect in air to form real looking objects with full color and motion. LFL has been developing original light field technology to illustrate realistic 3D holographs.

NTT said the investment in LFL aligns with its own development of VR/AR technologies and 5G.

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DOCOMO invests in WSC Sports for AI-powered analytics

NTT DOCOMO Ventures has made an equity investment in W.S.C. Sports Technologies Ltd., a startup based in Israel that provides a platform capable of automatically creating sports video highlights in near real-time by utilizing AI and machine learning technologies to distribute to all sorts of digital media. Financial terms were not disclosed.

WSC Sports’ AI platform analyzes audio, video and data in a live broadcast and not only identifies each and every event that occurs in the game but also creates and distributes short-form videos by any parameter, such as players and scenes selected, to any digital destination.

In 2018, WSC Sports analyzed more than 17,000 sporting events and produced more than 850,000 videos.

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Taiwan's Far EasTone tests drones for tower inspections

Far EasTone Telecommunications (FET), one of Taiwan's largest mobile operators and a capital affiliate of NTT Docomo, has begun testing the docomo sky service for inspecting base-station towers/

The service uses drones to photograph the towers and then wirelessly communicate the information to a command center in real time. This is the second overseas deployment of docomo sky, following Indonesia. Docomo sky service is also currently inspecting base-station towers in Japan.

Going forward, DOCOMO said it will continue to develop and enhance its advanced drone services.

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DOCOMO develops 5G glass antenna for 28 GHz

NTT DOCOMO, in partnership with AGC Inc. and Ericsson, has developed an antenna embedded in synthetic fused silica glass for transmitting and receiving 28 GHz 5G radio signals.

The antenna was used to verify 28 GHz 5G mobile communication with downlink speeds averaging 1.3 Gbps within a 100-meter range and reaching a maximum of 3.8 Gbps at 400 MHz.

The verification tests, which used a vehicle fitted with multiple antennas and traveling about 30 km/h, were conducted in the Sumida area of Tokyo between April 22 and May 28.

https://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/english/info/media_center/pr/2019/0529_00.html

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