Wi-Fi
Wi-Fi is the popular name given to the IEEE 802.11 standards governing high-speed wireless LANs, implemented by the WECA (Wireless Ethernet Compatibility Alliance) industry group. These standards guarantee the interoperability of equipment, and the use of the Wi-Fi name signifies that a product has passed the mutual connectivity test based on IEEE 802.11b.
Mzone is the public wireless LAN service provided by NTT DOCOMO under Wi-Fi standards, and is now the most extensive in Japan. NTT DOCOMO is also promoting a variety of associated operations including the Mobile Centrex Service which is an enlargement of IP Centrex aimed at the convergence of mobile phones and Wi-Fi, as well as the FOMA M1000 terminal developed under the Business FOMA concept.
NTT DOCOMO is dedicated to creating and providing new services through the adoption of international standards and the innovation of technologies that keep us ahead of our competitors. Our Wi-Fi activities are part of this drive. We began a public wireless LAN service called Mzone in July 2002, and have since grown it to offer the broadest coverage in Japan.
Another initiative incorporating Wi-Fi is the convergence between mobile phones and Wi-Fi. As part of this, we introduced the business-oriented N900iL FOMA/wireless LAN terminal with Mobile Centrex Service compatibility in November 2004. This device offers businesses unprecedented communications flexibility: the Mobile Centrex Service allows a mobile phone to also be used as an extension phone and was developed as an enlargement of IP Centrex, a centralized IP PNX management tool.
When the N900iL is used for voice communications it functions as either a FOMA terminal outside the company's offices, or as an extension IP phone with wireless LAN capability inside the office. When used for data communications, it operates as an i-mode terminal outside the office, or provides wireless LAN-based Internet access inside the office.
Additionally, we introduced the M1000 FOMA terminal for business users in June 2005, taking Mzone's content provision service to a new level.
