SINGAPORE (Kyodo) Mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo Inc. will launch a trial run with SingTel Mobile to give their cell-phone subscribers access to the Internet via wireless local area network spots in Singapore and some Japanese cities.
During the three-month trial beginning next month, subscribers to NTT DoCoMo in Japan can seamlessly access the Internet with their laptop computers and WLAN cards in more than 230 "hot spots," including some Singapore cafes.
Subscribers to SingTel Mobile, Singapore's largest mobile phone operator, in Singapore will be able to do the same in Tokyo and its vicinity.
While the service is free during the trial, the two companies plan to impose a fee when they commercially launch the so-called Wi-Fi roaming service at the end of the trial.
They are planning to expand the service to other parts of Asia, including Australia, India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand.
NTT DoCoMo, which inked a deal with SingTel Mobile last year to explore such roaming opportunities, believes there is demand for such a service among Japanese who travel to Asian countries on business.
SingTel Mobile, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singapore Telecommunications Ltd. (SingTel), has about 1.5 million mobile phone subscribers in Singapore.