Japan gets a step closer

[Effendi]

In the meanwhile, in March a 3rd WCDMA operator will start its voice services in Japan: Emobile. Unfortunately it's a W-CDMA 1700MHz, so it's the second after T-Mobile in the US to use this unusual frequency (another step farther for Japan and US from the rest of the World...). They will offer a flat rate on-net tariff, for the first time in Japan, and they have a roaming agreement with DoCoMo. So they will need dual band phones 1700/2100.

[AndreA]

Originally Posted by Effendi

So they will need dual band phones 1700/2100.

Well, it's not so bad :P So we will have finally a sixband* phone

* 850, 900, 1800, 1900 GSM + 1700, 2100 UMTS

[andy]

Originally Posted by AndreA

Well, it's not so bad :P So we will have finally a sixband* phone

* 850, 900, 1800, 1900 GSM + 1700, 2100 UMTS

you left out wi-fi and any future wimax band allocations

[VladS]

Originally Posted by AndreA

Well, it's not so bad :P So we will have finally a sixband* phone

* 850, 900, 1800, 1900 GSM + 1700, 2100 UMTS

You also left out the original North American UMTS frequencies: 850 and 1900. Even though the bands are the same, the spectrum is not.

Soon to come are eightband phones, with wifi and wimax. And if they don't stop here and keep on adding more frequencies (the US 700MHz block is up for sale) we'll end up with phones the size of my old Motorola 8000 (aka the brick). http://images.pcworld.com/opinion/gr...ynaTac8000.jpg