NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s premier mobile communication company, provides wireless voice and data communications to more than 50 million customers in Japan. The competition among mobile carriers in the Japanese market is intensified daily due to the introduction of mobile number portability, new entrants to the cellular market, saturation due to the rapid increase of the market penetration rate, and the diversification of customer demands. To compete with this, NTT DoCoMo seeks to reinforce its core business by taking comprehensive measures. Our corporate philosophy of “creating a new world of communications culture” will act swiftly and adequately to the needs of customers from a “customer-centric” perspective. Furthermore, in pursuit of transforming our cellular handsets into a multifunctional tool for everyday life and business, we intend to evolve our cellular service by equipping the handsets with electronic money, credit card payment and other attractive features.

In November 1999, NTT DoCoMo founded DoCoMo Communication Laboratories USA (DoCoMo USA Labs) in Palo Alto, California. During this time, Internet connection from cellular phone (i-mode in NTT DoCoMo), data communications, and multimedia services (such as video streaming and digital broadcasting) have become an important part of our business, in addition to conventional voice services. In parallel with this change of the business environment, mobile network infrastructure has migrated from circuit switched network to IP based network and mobile devices have evolved to require the similar functionalities of PCs. New radio access technologies such as HSDPA/HSUPA, 3G LTE and IMT-Advanced are also in progress. This technology leads the cellular network to be an ALL-IP Giga-bit capable broadband network. Besides the cellular networks, WiFi and WiMAX based wireless access services or VoIP services are popular, and study about the convergence of all these networks and services grown widely. This trend shows environment around mobile communications continues to evolve.

With this advancement, DoCoMo Labs will conduct research actvities to provide key technologies for diverse services, balance mid- to long-term strategic vision (including future paradigm shift development by top-tier research experts) and conduct other business interests of NTT DoCoMo. This is my foundation as a CEO of the labs.

DoCoMo USA Labs makes significant contribution in the areas of media coding, wireless access, mobile network architecture, device security and the like. All of these key technologies are important and essential to provide innovative, attractive and secure services for customers at a reasonable cost. In the United States, especially in Silicon Valley, we are a world leader in Internet and software technology with the power of new business creation. Exploring the synergy benefits through collaboration with companies in the US is part of our plan. I look forward to creating highly innovative technologies that lead to new life styles, and contributing to the growth of NTT DoCoMo and entire mobile industry.

Kazuo Imai, Ph.D. President and Chief Executive Officer