DoCoMo goes for Wireless LAN

Japanese mobile giant NTT DoCoMo, champion of the most advanced 3G technology, will launch a wireless internet service using the cheap and cheerful 802.11b standard next month.

Branded Mzone, the service will provide users with 11Mpbs internet access from laptop PCs using cheap and widely available wireless LAN cards.

It will initially be available in nine locations in Tokyo before being rolled out across the nation. NTT DoCoMo joins several other companies already offering 802.11b wireless services in Japan.

NTT DoCoMo is one of the first companies in the world to offer 3G services, which offer data access up to 384Kbps over a wider area. The service will cost just Y2,000 (£11) per month.

Though 3G was meant to enable many different services, such as video phones, it was also hoped that its laptop users would use it to surf the web on the move. But the faster, simpler and cheaper 802.11b seems to be claiming most of that particular market - even in 3G's heartland of Japan.

Though 802.11b only covers small areas such as the interior of an office, café or airport lounge, these are the areas where most mobile laptop users do their surfing - Creating 'hotspots' of demand that can easily be serviced with simple technology and no need for an expensive licence.