Fig 1: Japan's first mobile WiMAX service, "UQ WiMAX," was announced.
Fig 2: Takashi Tanaka, president of UQ Communications, explained the UQ WiMAX service.
UQ Communications Inc announced details of "UQ WiMAX," a wireless data communication service using mobile WiMAX (IEEE802.16e) technology, Feb 3, 2009 .
The company will launch a free trial service for beta testers Feb 26 and shift to a fee-based service July 1. Only a flat rate plan of ¥4,480 (approx US$50) per month will be available.
At a press presentation in Tokyo, UQ Communications set up an indoor base station in the presentation room to measure and demonstrate the data transmission speeds of its mobile WiMAX service. In the demonstration, downstream speed was about 16Mbps, and upstream speed was about 3.9Mbps.
The Wave 2, a mobile WiMAX profile used in UQ WiMAX, defines a maximum downstream speed as 40Mbps and a maximum upstream speed as 10Mbps.
Along with the service, UQ Communications announced four models of data transmission cards that can be used for the service. The four cards, two from Shinsei Corp and the other two from NEC Access Technica Ltd, are used with a PC. They are the USB type "UD01SS" and "UD01NA," the PC card type "UD02NA" and the ExpressCard/34 type "UD02SS". They are priced at either ¥12,800 or 13,800.
The power consumption of the cards is about 1 to 1.5W when they are transmitting data, according to the company.
Beceem Communications Inc of the US announced its mobile WiMAX-compatible transceiver IC is used in NEC Access Technica's products (Press release).
The trial service, which is scheduled for Feb 26 to June 30, 2009, will target 5,000 beta testers recruited from the public and be available in part of Tokyo's 23 wards and Yokohama and Kawasaki cities. The monthly charge and the rental of a data communication terminal are free.
UQ Communications is currently recruiting "people aged 20 or over living in either Tokyo's 23 wards, Yokohama or Kawasaki" through Feb 15, 2009. Applications are accepted on the company's Website.
As of the end of February, when the trial service starts, the number of base stations is "expected to surpass 500," said Takashi Tanaka, president of UQ Communications. At that time, communications could be disrupted at places such as the intermediate areas between base stations, he said.
"We are planning to double the number of base stations in the Tokyo metropolitan district by the time we start our commercial service," Tanaka said. "We will install one station between every two existing stations."
UQ Communications is planning to start its commercial service in the Tokyo metropolitan area, Kyoto-Osaka-Kobe and Nagoya areas July 1, 2009. Instead of employing a pay-as-you-go system, the company set a monthly flat rate of ¥4,480.
"We will highlight the fact that UQ WiMAX is the fastest mobile Internet service and available at a low price," Tanaka said.
The company intends to achieve a population coverage ratio of more than 90% by the end of March 2013 by installing more base stations even after the commercial service starts.
Furthermore, UQ Communications will launch its "UQ Wi-Fi Service," a public wireless LAN service "aimed at areas that WiMAX cannot cover," in the fall of 2009, Tanaka said. This service is available free of charge for UQ WiMAX service users, primarily on public transportation such as the Tokaido Shinkansen bullet train.
UQ Communications is a joint venture participated by Daiwa Securities Group Inc, East Japan Railway (JR) Co, Intel Capital Corp, KDDI Corp, Kyocera Corp and the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Ltd. It was licensed to operate mobile WiMAX services using the 2.5GHz band in December 2007 and changed its name from Wireless Broadband Planning K.K. (WBPK) in March 2008.
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