DoCoMo mobile phones to double as train pass
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`2/22/05 Reuters News 09:39:06
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`Reuters News
`Copyright © 2005 Reuters
`
`February 22, 2005
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`DoCoMo mobile phones to double as train pass
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`Yukari Iwatani Kane
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`TOKYO, Feb 22 (Reuters) - NTT DoCoMo Inc.'s <9437.T> latest mobile phones, which can already store money and personal
`information, will also double as a train pass starting next year.
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`DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile operator, East Japan Railway Co. <9020.T> and Sony Corp. <6758.T> said on Tuesday they
`planned to launch a new service on Jan. 1, 2006 that would allow users to use mobile phones, embedded with Sony's smart
`chip, to enter ticket gates by passing their phone over a scanner.
`
`The so-called "wallet phones" containing Sony's FeliCa smart chip is ultimately intended to replace cash, credit cards,
`identification cards and electronic plane or train tickets.
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`DoCoMo, whose name is a play on the Japanese word for "everywhere", last June became the first mobile operator to launch
`a wallet phone.
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`Tokyo commuters have already been using "Suica" train passes with an embedded FeliCa chip for about three years, so a mobile
`version could gain popularity since users are already familiar with the service.
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`"We aim to have about 10 million customers using wallet phones by the end of the next business year (ending March 2006),"
`said DoCoMo Chief Executive Masao Nakamura at a joint news conference with East Japan Railway and Sony.
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`About 2 million of DoCoMo's 48 million customers currently own wallet phones. In comparison, East Japan Railway said it
`had sold 10.9 million Suica cards as of Monday.
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`East Japan Railway President Mutsutake Otsuka said mobile "Suica" could help free up valuable space in train stations since
`they could be recharged wirelessly, cutting down on the need for ticket machines.
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`Mobile Suica holders will be able to use the phones to make purchases at Suica-compatible retail stores in the second half of
`the next business year starting April and use them as bullet train tickets in the following business year.
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`Mobile Suica's debit card feature could clash with the already existing Edy service by bitWallet Inc., which is partly owned
`by Sony and DoCoMo.
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`KDDI Corp. <9433.T>, Japan's second-largest mobile operator, has said previously that it planned to offer wallet phones in
`autumn, in time for the launch of mobile Suica.
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` © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
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`DoCoMo mobile phones to double as train pass
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`Vodafone Holdings KK <9434.T> is also expected to offer phones with a wallet capability.
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`The concept of a wallet phone is just getting off the ground, but the smart chip technology is not new in Asia, where Hong
`Kong residents were the first in the world to use "Octopus" smart cards embedded with Sony's chip to access trains, buses and
`ferries and pay for merchandise and parking.
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`Singapore, China, India and Thailand also use Sony's chips for similar services.
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`((Reporting by Yukari Iwatani Kane; editing by Mario Di Simine; Reuters Messaging: yukari.iwatani.reuters.com@reuters.net;
`e-mail: yukari.iwatani@reuters.com; +81 3 3432 8595))
`
`(C) Reuters 2005. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution of Reuters content, including by caching, framing or
`similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuters sphere logo are
`registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group of companies around the world.
`
`---- Index References ----
`
`Company: NTT DOCOMO INC; SONY CORP OPTICAL DISC; SONY CORP; VODAFONE KK; KDDI CORP; DYNAMIC
`DETAILS INC; KAMATA STATION BIRU
`
`News Subject: (Major Corporations (1MA93))
`
`Industry: (Wireless Networking (1WI62); Telecom Carriers & Operators (1TE56); Electronics (1EL16); Consumer Electronics
`(1CO61); I.T. (1IT96); Railroads (1RA98); Telecom (1TE27); Land Transportation (1LA43); Wireless Pagers & Handsets
`(1WI07); Transportation (1TR48); Networking (1NE45); Telecom Consumer Equipment (1TE03); Next Generation Wireless
`Technology (1NE48); I.T. in Transportation (1IT48))
`
`Region: (Central Europe (1CE50); Far East (1FA27); Eastern Asia (1EA61); Asia (1AS61); Germany (1GE16); Europe
`(1EU83); Western Europe (1WE41); Japan (1JA96))
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`Language: EN
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`Other Indexing: (DOCOMO; DOCOMO INC; EAST JAPAN RAILWAY; EAST JAPAN RAILWAY CO; KDDI CORP;
`MARIO DI SIMINE; MOBILE SUICA; SONY; SONY CORP; SUICA; TOKYO; VODAFONE HLDGS; YUKARI IWATANI
`KANE) (Mutsutake Otsuka; Republication)
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`Word Count: 625
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`End of Document
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`© 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
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` © 2021 Thomson Reuters. No claim to original U.S. Government Works.
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