DoCoMo Postpones the Launch of Nokia's 3G Phone

DoCoMo, the largest mobile phone operator from Japan, has postponed the launch of a new handset made by Nokia.

The reason was the discovery of software glitches within the product. The announcement comes after Nokia declared that it had shipped the first NM850iG phones to DoCoMo. "We delayed the launch to adjust the handset quality. No decision has been made on when it might be launched", stated a DoCoMo spokesman. The phone was supposed to be released on 24 February 2006.

This is the first 3G handset produced by Nokia for DoCoMo, providing a 3G service based on the W-CDMA standard. Difficulties were encountered in the implementation of the i-mode, DoCoMo's mobile Internet service. The problem was traced back to the software. "This shows that it is not that easy to make handsets for different markets even if they use the same W-CDMA standard", said one industry official.

The delay comes at a bad time for Nokia as it was just making its way on the Japanese market, one of the most competitive in the world. "We see this as a chance to use W-CDMA technology, which is being deployed globally. We have been working on this for a long time", Nokia had declared previously.

Nokia representatives haven't commented upon this subject yet.