PHS at TELECOM 99

Dubbed "the Olympic Games of the telecommunications industry," TELECOM 99 was held in Geneva, Switzerland, from October 10 through 17. This quadrennial exhibition of the latest developments in telecommunications drew some 200,000 visitors from all over the world, despite the entrance fee. At the exhibition site PALEXPO near Geneva International Airport, some 1,200 companies and organizations from 49 countries set up their booths, with their new products on display. Among the new technologies and services introduced by world-leading companies and telecommunications carriers, the mainstream products focused on mobile communications and VoIP (Voice over IP).

Concerning mobile communications, the next-generation mobile communications system IMT-2000 was put on display by some Japanese companies, including NTT Mobile Communications Network, Inc. (NTT DoCoMo), along with non-Japanese companies. All these companies provided demonstrations, appealing that the introduction of IMT-2000 is close at hand. Meanwhile, their rivals, companies supporting GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication), emphasized GSM's improved multimedia functionality and Internet compatibility under the keyword "Mobile Internet, Mobile Network." Such improvements in GSM are the result of new technologies and services that have been adopted. Nonetheless, PHS is ahead of GSM and IMT-2000 as regards Internet compatibility, data communications and multimedia functionality. Since the end of 1998, PHS carriers have been offering very popular text-messaging services, e.g., "Moji-Denwa (character telephone)" and "Chara (character) Talk," and have released special terminals like "Tegacky (handwriting)" that support these services.

At the site, Kenwood Corp., Kyocera Corp., Toshiba Corp., Sanyo Electric Co., Ltd. and Sharp Corp. displayed their PHS terminals, including "Moji-Denwa" terminals and the "Visual Phone" by Kyocera. In addition, PHS-WLLs were on display by ArrayComm, Inc., Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. and UTStarcom Inc. UTStarcom announced that it won a 1.4 million-line contract in China with its WLL equipped with portable handsets called PAS (Personal Access System), while providing PAS demonstrations at their booth. Canon Inc. demonstrated its PHS prototype terminal equipped with a digital camera capable of taking still pictures. Visitors paid close attention to the PHS products as a promising technology for the future.

The PHS MoU Group, meanwhile, distributed pamphlets explaining their activities at the reception section of the Japanese pavilion to improve understanding of the organization by the visitors.