DoCoMo Gets Ready To Stream Over 3G

By Susan Rush
from BroadbandWeek Direct, April 26, 2002

Japanese wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo continues its 3G push in Japan. The latest: the company is rolling out a trial of video streaming services.

Being the first carrier out of the box in Japan, NTT DoCoMo launched its high-speed, next-generation wireless service dubbed FOMA in Tokyo Oct. 1. The service originally was scheduled to launch in May, but the Japanese wireless carrier pushed the date back to make time for additional testing. At the time of the launch, NTT DoCoMo said it was teaming with PacketVideo Corp. to deliver real-time video streaming services over DoCoMo's 3G mobile network without the need to install streaming media software in the terminals.

The V-Live service will be available through DoCoMo's FOMA 3G network and will stream live and archived video to FOMA phones and PDAs. Content, including music sports highlights, news, animation and tourist information, will be available on May 15 to all V-Live subscribers.