J-Phone Co. will release a handset that can receive analogue television broadcasts, company officials said Friday. The handset, made by NEC Corp., will be put on the market in December as part of marketing steps J-Phone will take as it changes its name to Vodafone K.K. on Oct. 1.
J-Phone, a unit of British wireless giant Vodafone Group PLC, will officially announce the plan after setting the price of the handset and details of the service.
While mobile phones that receive TV programs are already available in South Korea, J-Phone will be the first to offer such a handset in Japan.
J-Phone is also developing a cell phone to show terrestrial digital broadcasts, with the service to get fully under way in the Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya areas in December.