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NTT DoCoMo of Japan has always been the most aggressive cellular operator in terms of early adoption of technology, and carries huge amounts of R&D activity and IPR in 3G systems. This led to it deploying 3G before any other operator, but using a pre-standard format that was not compatible with other networks, and now the carrier looks set to repeat the pattern.

Although it has said on previous occasions that it will go fully standard at the LTE phase, it is now pushing ahead with commercial development of its 'Super 3G' network, based on a pre-standard flavor of LTE, and says it could go live with services in 2010, almost certainly ahead of the other would-be LTE first movers, Vodafone, Verizon Wireless and China Mobile.

DoCoMo's go-it-alone approach also makes it very dependent on its favorite equipment and terminal makers, often from Japan too, and has selected Fujitsu to supply the core network, based on Evolved Packet Core (EPC) technology - a key part of the LTE/SAE platform - having previously announced that another Japanese major, NEC, would supply the RAN and terminals, as well as some core elements too.

This appears to leave Nokia Siemens out in the cold, at least in the first phase of deployment - the Finnish-German venture, partnering with Panasonic, was working with DoCoMo last year on the Super3G base station project.

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