NTT DoCoMo says it is on track to launch its LTE service in December.
The Japanese cellco is in a race with smaller rival eMobile to be the first to start Japan’s – and Asia’s – first LTE service.
DoCoMo cellco said it is now verifying its LTE network for “speed, latency, stability of inter-cell handover and other conditions required for commercial operation.”
It expects to confirm a throughput of 37.5Mbps on the downlink and 12.5Mbps on the uplink, using 5MHz of bandwidth at 2GHz in selected test areas.
Commercial LTE services will be deployed using 5MHz of spectrum at 2GHz in December, a company spokesperson told telecomasia.net.
“We plan to deliver LTE in the Tokyo, Osaka, Nagoya areas in December for the beginning phase,” the spokesperson said.
For efficiency, DoCoMo has been installing LTE base station components on existing W-CDMA base stations.
The prototype LTE terminals being used in the pre-launch operation are equipped for theoretical speeds of 100Mbps on downlink and 50Mbps on the uplink.
The devices also are compatible with the GSM protocol, which will enable them to be used on LTE/GSM networks in overseas markets.