- Fixed & Mobile Environments Converge With New Services -

Following through with a commitment made this spring "to open the door to the future and connect people in exciting new ways," NTT DOCOMO has once again demonstrated its technological leadership and service innovation with the launch of two advanced services, Pocket U and Home U, which turn the long-awaited dream of fixed-mobile convergence into a tangible, functioning reality.

How do they do it? Pocket U enables the user to conveniently and securely access content on their home PC using a cell phone or other mobile device. And Home U allows the customer to use a DOCOMO phone to connect to their fixed-line broadband network at home — via a wireless LAN router — for high-speed packet and Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) communications.

While much has been said about fixed-mobile convergence, DOCOMO is now one of the first mobile operators to deliver actual commercial services in this exciting field.

Put Your PC in Your Pocket

According to a survey, almost half of DOCOMO's customers using the Pake-hodai flat-rate plan for packet communications, especially those in their 20s or 30s, are interested in using a mobile phone to view and play files stored in their home PCs.

"Our customers told us that they wanted mobile access to their home PCs, so we delivered," says Kouichi Sawai, Director of the Ubiquitous Services Department.

DOCOMO's solution is indeed a compelling one: Pocket U, launched in June, enables PC content to be viewed with a DOCOMO phone's browser, i-motion multimedia application or PDF viewer, thereby turning the phone into a virtual home PC, yet with all the convenience and functionality of i-mode.

"Think music, think video, think clips on your camcorder — all the content that you might want to show your friends, but don't have stored in your phone. Or think remote access to a playlist in your PC," Sawai says. "Or perhaps you forget a report, presentation or PDF file. Now there's no need to worry, because with Pocket U you're virtually carrying your PC around with you!" he adds.

At Last, Mobile Broadband

DOCOMO already offers the world's fastest phone network, with some mobile services topping out at a blistering 7.2 Mbps. But there's no denying that mobile phones cannot achieve the upper-level speeds of fixed broadband, correct?

Think again.

With Home U, Japan's first fixed-mobile convergence service for the mass market, a subscr iber at home can now access their fixed network with a mobile/W-LAN dual handset to enjoy access speeds of up to 54 Mbps. What's more, the service allows the phone to be used for VoIP communication, so calls to most non-Home U users cost fully 30% less than regular charges, while calls to Home U users are completely free!

Home U also delivers a key win-win advantage for users and DOCOMO. "In the case of packet data traffic, 60-70% of our customers use their mobile phones at home in the evenings. Since this is when our network is most congested, the more people who use Home U to take advantage of broadband speeds, the more our network will be freed up for other subscribers," Sawai smiles.

Simple, Safe and Secure

Two important features of both services are their simple setup and high security. To install Pocket U, the user merely downloads application software from the DOCOMO website into their home PC.

For Home U, the user also downloads software from the DOCOMO website and then connects their mobile phone to their computer using a USB cable, after which the software automatically installs, as well as configures the phone for connection to the home network's wireless router.

Because protecting customer information is one of DOCOMO's most important missions, high security is built into the services, both of which use a virtual private network with encryption. Pocket U also requires a verification code. "This prevents data sniffing in the case of Home U, which is a major difference between our service and just using Wi-Fi on a personal digital device," Sawai says.

The Broader Concept

Home U is one of several services that DOCOMO hopes to introduce under a broad, overall concept called Home Area. In the not-too-distant future, for example, this could include an in-home service using femto cell BTS (base transceiver stations) — essentially mini base stations that use a standard mobile network signal instead of Wi-Fi.

Besides ensuring strong reception in hard-to-reach areas, the Home Area concept is intended to realize a variety of high-speed, high-capacity, high-security mobile services, such as convenient wireless applications combining home servers and home-network devices.

"With Home Area, we envision a truly mobile digital home environment in which a broad spectrum of devices and rich content would not only be accessible, but also manageable and operable, using cell phones with DOCOMO's i-mode mobile Internet platform," Sawai says.

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