I would like to take this opportunity to say a few words representing PHS MoU Group.
First, I would like to express my sincere thanks to all of you for sparing your valuable time to be here.
The preparatory group for PHS MoU initiated its activities last July, with 39 participating members from Asia, Europe, and North America. Since then, the group has achieved its intended goal by holding technical symposiums formulating PHS interface documents, and drawing up agreements for PHS-ID assignment and so on.
PHS was developed under the concept of the second-generation cordless telephone, in which an indoor cordless telephone can be taken outdoors “as is.” It was also developed to provide an economical service using micro-cell and intelligent network technologies. PHS can be used in a wide variety of applications such as digital cordless telephones in homes, private call systems in offices, mobile communication in towns, and Wireless Local Loop as wireless subscriber systems. PHS can provide a seamless communication service by integrating existing fixed telephones and mobile telephone services.
PHS also boasts a superior level of quality using 32 kb/s ADPCM. Expectations are rising for PHS as an expandable telecommunication system for the upcoming multimedia era, because it can accommodate high-speed data communication.
A public PHS service was launched in Japan last July, and the number of subscribers has increased dramatically, due largely to its low-cost price structure and its user-friendliness at the end of May this year, the number of subscribers exceeded 2.5 million.
Outside Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Guatemala, Colombia, and Argentina have decided to introduce PHS. In addition, standardization work for PHS is underway in Australia. PHS is gradually coming into wide use.
Currently, countries around the world are tackling the issue of how best to meet the advancement of information technologies. In Asia, member nations of the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum agreed last May at the ministerial meeting for telecommunications and information industry that APII, or the Asia-Pacific Information Infrastructure, will contribute as a part of GII to the creation of jobs, sustainable economic growth, and the prosperity of the next generation in the region.
Under such circumstances, expectations for PHS are growing, and it is expected to become a part of APII. The rise in the number of world wide mobile communication subscribers in the past two years has been extraordinary; when PHS joins the family of mobile communication services, the information communication market is expected to undergo even greater expansion.
Given such a situation, the activities of the PHS MoU Group will become increasingly important in the near future. In fact, Article I of the PHS MoU agreement states, and I quote, “The objective of this Memorandum of Understanding is to introduce, operate, and spread, on a worldwide basis, the Personal Handy-phone System (PHS), and to thereby contribute to the improved convenience of telecommunications users and to the consequential benefit of the people of the world.”
Finally, I urge the signatories of PHS MoU, who are present here today, to work together to make PHS a common service in the world, in pursuit of this objective.