Freedom of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA) is the
brand name of the
W-CDMA-based
3G telecommunications
Telecommunication is the transmission of information by various types of technologies over wire, radio, optical, or other electromagnetic systems. It has its origin in the desire of humans for communication over a distance greater than that ...
services being offered by the Japanese
telecommunications service provider NTT DoCoMo. It is an implementation of the
Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) and was the world's first 3G mobile data service to commence commercial operations.
NTT DoCoMo also offers
HSPA
HSPA may refer to:
* High Speed Packet Access, a mobile broadband technology
* Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association
Education
* High School Proficiency Assessment
The High School Proficiency Assessment (HSPA, pronounced "hess-pah" (/ˈhɛspə/) ...
services branded FOMA High-Speed (FOMAハイスピード), which offers downlink speeds up to 7.2 Mbit/s and uplink speeds up to 5.7 Mbit/s.
History
NTT DoCoMo developed the
W-CDMA air interface, which is a form of
DS-CDMA (Direct Sequence CDMA), in the late 1990s. It was later accepted by the
ITU
The International Telecommunication Union is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for many matters related to information and communication technologies. It was established on 17 May 1865 as the International Telegraph Union ...
as one of several air interfaces for the
IMT-2000telecom initiative and by the
ETSI
The European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) is an independent, not-for-profit, standardization organization in the field of information and communications. ETSI supports the development and testing of global technical standard ...
as one of three air interfaces for the
UMTS cellular network standard.
NTT DoCoMo originally planned to launch the world's first 3G services, initially branded Frontier of Mobile Multimedia Access (FOMA), in May 2001.
However, by May 2001, NTT DoCoMo had postponed the full-scale launch until October 2001, claiming they had not completed testing of their entire infrastructure, and would only launch an introductory trial to 4,000 subscribers.
In doing so, they also renamed the service to Freedom of Mobile multimedia Access.
In June 2001 trial subscribers complained the
mobile phone
A mobile phone, cellular phone, cell phone, cellphone, handphone, hand phone or pocket phone, sometimes shortened to simply mobile, cell, or just phone, is a portable telephone that can make and receive calls over a radio frequency link whi ...
s had insufficient battery life and
crashed frequently, that there was inadequate
network coverage
In telecommunications, the coverage of a radio station is the geographic area where the station can communicate. Broadcasters and telecommunications companies frequently produce coverage maps to indicate to users the station's intended service ...
, and that there were
security issues within the handset itself.
As a result, DoCoMo
recalled 1,500 handsets by the end of June 2001. FOMA successfully launched in October 2001, providing mobile telecommunications coverage to
Tokyo
Tokyo (; ja, 東京, , ), officially the Tokyo Metropolis ( ja, 東京都, label=none, ), is the capital and largest city of Japan. Formerly known as Edo, its metropolitan area () is the most populous in the world, with an estimated 37.46 ...
and
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
.
Initially - as the first full-scale 3G service in the world - The first FOMA handsets were of an experimental nature, targeting
early adopters, were larger than previous handsets, had poor battery life, while the initial network only covered the center of Japan's largest towns and cities. For the first 1–2 years, FOMA was essentially an experimental service for early adopters - mainly centered around communication industry professionals.
As NTT DoCoMo did not wait for the completion and finalization of the 3G Release 99 network specification, their 3G W-CDMA network was initially incompatible with the internationally deployed UMTS standard. However, in 2004 NTT DoCoMo performed wide-scale upgrades on its network, bringing it into compliance with the specification and enabling 100% compatibility with UMTS handsets, including incoming and outgoing roaming.
Around March 2004, the FOMA network achieved mass adoption, and handset sales soared. As of September 29, 2007, FOMA had over 40 million subscribers.
Terminals
NTT DoCoMo offers a wide range of FOMA branded handsets, which are made specifically for the Japanese market. FOMA handsets differ from Western UMTS handsets in several aspects, for example:
* A standardized menu structure and chargers.
* Japan-specific features such as
i-mode
NTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet (distinct from wireless internet) service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocols, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail, and the pa ...
or
Osaifu-Keitai (electronic wallet).
* Multiband-support, which includes band VI at 800 MHz for FOMA Plus-Area (newer models).
* No support for dual-mode operation with GSM/EDGE (except some models branded by DoCoMo as World Wing).
Frequency allocations
In metropolitan areas, FOMA uses the
UMTS band I around 2100 MHz, which has been originally assigned to IMT-2000 services worldwide, except in the Americas.
In order to improve coverage in rural and mountainous areas, NTT DoCoMo also offers FOMA services in the 800 MHz band originally assigned to the 2G
PDC mova service, which corresponds to
UMTS band VI and is similar to band V used in the United States.
These extended service areas are branded FOMA Plus-Area (FOMAプラスエリア) and require multiband terminals.
References
{{Mobile telecommunications standards
Telecommunications in Japan
Mobile telecommunication services
NTT Docomo