According to numerous reports in the last several days, NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest cellular carrier, has adopted embedded Linux for its 3G phones. NTT DoCoMo apparently hopes the Linux-based handsets will accelerate adoption of its 3G, Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA) services. DoCoMo has provided information to partners like NEC about Linux-based handsets that will work with its network. NEC has planned a 3G Linux phone since May, and expects to produce a Linux handset in 2004.

DoCoMo launched its 3G FOMA service in October, 2001, but has enrolled only 1.3 million subscribers two years later, stymied by limited area coverage, bulky handsets, and poor battery life, according to Reuters and the Hindustani Times. DoCoMo clearly believes Linux can make a better, less costly 3G handset. This echoes the beliefs of Linux smartphone application stack provider Trolltech, which believes Linux can deliver 3G features on 2G hardware.

DoCoMo counts more than 45 million 2G customers, according to Reuters, but has had difficulty convincing them to buy into 3G services. Flat-rate pricing from number two provider KDDI, with 10.7 million customers, has also hurt DoCoMo. KDDI last week announced flat-rate pricing on an advanced 3G service that includes unlimited data usage such as Web access and photo messaging.

Additional DoCoMo strategies for winning new customers include High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA) service, expected to launch in 2005 and bring broadband-like throughput speeds to cellular downlinks, as well as a new NEC handset that supports wireless 802.11b in addition to DoCoMo's cellular network.

NEC already sells embedded Linux “devices” to NTT DoCoMo — network switching infrastructure for DoCoMo's FOMA network that runs MontaVista Carrier Grade Linux.

Earlier this year, Motorola launched its first embedded Linux based smartphone, the A760, in the Asian market. The A760 represents the first fruit of Motorola's strategy to base many high-end phones and connected devices on a software platform comprising Linux and Java.

Additional coverage of NTT DoCoMo's move toward Linux is available from Forbes, InfoWorld, and Asahi.

 
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