Japan’s Softbank said it will commercialize its 4G network as early as February, with plans to extend the network to cover over 92% of the country’s population by the end of 2012.
The 4G network, which operates on the 2.5GHz spectrum that Softbank acquired from Willcom in March 2010, can support downloads of up to 110 Mbps and uplink of up to 15Mbps.
Ted Matsumoto, chief strategist advisor to CEO, said Softbank has already soft-launched the network on November 1 in Tokyo, Osaka and Fukuoka, through its 4G venture, Wireless City Planning (WCP).
The network is initially available via portable modems and dongle, and Softbank will begin offering a range of new handsets and smartphones in early 2012. These handsets, supplied by vendors such as Sharp, Dell, Panasonic, and Huawei, will support TD-LTE/FDD/GSM/UMTS/CDMA technologies, Matsumoto said.
Matsumoto said WCP would deploy 12,000 base stations next year, extending the 4G network to cover over 92% of the nation’s population.
The network is based on Advanced eXtended Global Platform (AXGP), an advanced version of the Japanese PHS standard, and is highly compatible with TD-LTE, the China-backed 4G standard.
“We also do [LTE] FDD but TDD is more spectrum-efficient and better suited to handling mobile data traffic than FDD,” Matsumoto told a conference in Hong Kong.
He said the [AXGP] network is a key component for Softbank’s mobile internet strategy, which allows the company to cost-effectively accommodate the rapid growth in 3G data traffic due to the widespread use of smartphones and tablets.
The Japanese carrier is using the new 4G network to complementing its existing 3G mobile network, which has now carrying over 30 million subscribers, particular in hot zones and areas where most mobile data traffic is concentrated.
Softbank, along with China Mobile, Vodafone, Bharti Airtel and Clearwire, is a founder member of the Global TD-LTE Initiative (GTI). Launched in February, the GTI focus on promoting the fast development of LTE TDD technology, as well as the convergence of LTE TDD and FDD modes to maximize economies of scale, and sharing the ecosystem with other TDD technologies.