COSTA MESA, Calif., Aug. 11, 2003 (PRIMEZONE) -- The CDMA Development Group (CDG) (www.cdg.org) today congratulates KDDI on the commercial success of their 3G services. Since the deployment of CDMA2000(r) 1X in April 2002, KDDI has added more than nine million subscribers and introduced a broad range of advanced multimedia services that has significantly increased the use of the wireless Internet. Driven by a strong demand for its "au" 3G services, the operator captured the lead in subscriber growth in Japan for the three consecutive months, April through June.
"The inherent benefits of CDMA2000 have greatly contributed to the success of 'au' services," said Hideo Okinaka, vice president and general manager, Strategic "au" Business Development Division for KDDI. "Rapid deployment, backwards compatibility with the existing system and high data speeds allows us to offer new services and improve customer experience."
"Japan is a prime example of the global success of CDMA2000," said Perry LaForge, executive director of the CDG. "In a highly competitive market where all top operators offer 3G, KDDI capitalized on the benefits of CDMA2000 to build significant competitive advantage. The CDG congratulates KDDI on this achievement."
KDDI clearly dominates 3G in Japan. Despite being second to market with 3G, launching CDMA2000 six months after DoCoMo introduced FOMA, KDDI has captured 93 percent of the market and is adding 600,000 3G subscribers per month. More than 62 percent of its subscriber base use CDMA2000 1X, and 90 percent of them subscribe to EZWeb Internet services. CDMA2000 subscribers generate 18 percent more in revenue than 2G users, and data makes up 23 percent of their monthly bill. With CDMA2000 1X, KDDI significantly expanded their EZWeb Internet services; today the EZweb portfolio includes eznavigation (location-based services), ezmovie (video distribution), EZweb@email (multimedia messaging) and ezplus (high-speed web access). One of KDDI's most popular multimedia messaging (MMS) offerings is Movie Mail, which allows users to film and attach a video clip of up to 15 seconds to an e-mail. In July, the operator reported that there were almost four million Movie Mail users.
KDDI's CDMA2000 1X network covers more than 90 percent of the Japan population. The operator will launch CDMA2000 1xEV-DO capable of delivering data at speeds of up to 2.4Mbs, in the fall of this year.
CDMA2000 leads in 3G today, with 50 million subscribers, or 99 percent of the 3G market. There are 60 commercial networks across 6 continents; 17 more are scheduled for deployment in the second half of 2003.
More information on CDMA2000 is available on the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
The CDMA Development Group is a nonprofit trade association formed to foster the worldwide development, implementation and use of CDMA technologies. The 110 member companies of the CDG include many of the world's largest wireless operators and equipment manufacturers. The primary activities of the CDG include development of CDMA features and services, public relations, education and seminars, regulatory affairs and international support. Currently, there are more than 500 individuals working within various CDG subcommittees on CDMA-related matters. For more information about the CDG, contact Valerie Christopherson of the CDG News Bureau at +1-714-540-1030, ext. 14, e-mail vchristopherson@bockpr.com, or visit the CDG Web site at www.cdg.org.
Note to editors: cdmaOne is a trademark of the CDG. CDMA2000 is a registered trademark of the Telecommunications Industry Association (TIA-USA).