NTT DoCoMo testing Super 3G network

By Stevie Smith Jul 16, 2007, 13:30 GMT

While the debate lingers surrounding Apple’s decision to favour the slower EDGE network over the superior speed of 3G, the boffins at NTT DoCoMo are busy running tests on a new network that puts 3G well and truly in the shade.

Japanese mobile phone operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. has announced this week that it has begun testing an experimental "Super 3G system" for the mobile communications market. It is DoCoMo’s aim via the tests to reach a downlink transmission rate of 300Mbps across a high-speed wireless network, which would equate to speeds approximately 100 times quicker than current 3G networks.

Featuring low-latency data transmission and enhanced spectrum efficiency, DoCoMo claims that Super 3G is a "highly advanced version of High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) and High-Speed Uplink Packet Access (HSUPA)". Both HSDPA and HSUPA have evolved from W-CDMA packet transmission technology as standardised by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP).

DoCoMo will also utilise the Super 3G tests to examine the functionality of applications for voice and image transmission, including games and other media, which it sees as central capabilities impacting the Super 3G market. The mobile communications giant further reveals that 3GPP, which is a telecommunications standards organisation, is in the process of discussing Super 3G standardisation under the name "Long Term Evolution" (LTE).

In terms of its own evolution, NTT DoCoMo Inc. maintains that its belief in the Super 3G network will ultimately "allow the company to make a smooth transition to 4G," which it has also been working on for several months. As of July 2006, DoCoMo had already begun accepting supplier proposals in order to develop equipment specific to Super 3G. The network is expected to reach completion in time for 2009.

With more than 52 million customers – over half the region’s mobile market – NTT DoCoMo is the country’s largest mobile phone operator. DoCoMo is derived from the phrase "Do Communications over the Mobile" and is also similar to the Japanese word "dokomo", which means "everywhere".