CommunicAsia 2000, the largest international exhibition on information and communications in Asia, was held from June 6 through 9 in Singapore. This exhibition was part of the "Singapore Expo," which took place at the 68,400-square meter venue. Some 1,000 companies from about 40 countries participated in the exhibition, and 12 countries set up respective group pavilions. Subsidiary shows -- MobileCommAsia 2000, NetworkAsia 2000, eBiz 2000 and Asia Pacific Satellite Communications 2000 -- also coincided with the exhibition. Items related to mobile communications, e-commerce, networking, cable and satellite were on display. The number of visitors to this exhibition during the four-day period topped 46,000, up 40% from last year's figure. Some 15,000 people, or 34% of all visitors, came from outside Singapore. The PHS MoU Group set up its own booth at the exhibition. There, the Group displayed panels explaining PHS's latest technological developments and a variety of such PHS terminals as PHS/PDC dual mode terminal, H" series PHS terminal and Visual Phone. The Group also showed its promotional video called "PHS Today" on three large plasma displays, which were installed around the booth. The video attracted much visitor attention.

PHS MoU booth

Asia's Urban Masses Embrace PHS And Its Low Cost, High-Speed Wireless Data Services

-- Advanced Wireless Data System Spurs Extensive Growth In New Markets --

SINGAPORE - June 7, 2000 -- The PHS (Personal Handy-phone System) MoU Group, a consortium of telecommunications manufacturers, service providers and network operators, announced today that PHS is experiencing a renewed surge of growth, expanding beyond Japan (where the first network was deployed) to China, Thailand and, now, Bangladesh as well as Taiwan. The growth of PHS can be attributed most notably to network enhancements made over the past year to accommodate increased data communication needs. Technology advances such as adaptive array technology have substantially improved spectral efficiency, increased capacity and enabled the world's highest wireless data transmission speeds. With 64 kbit/s already in service, PHS is now the leader of wireless mobile systems in terms of data transmission speeds, fueling growth in the number of new terminal devices. These include data/video handsets and devices for such services as location information and remote utility metering. It is expected that transmission speeds will be enhanced to 128 kbit/s later this year N well in advance of any promised speeds of 2.5 or 3G cellular systems, and at a fraction of the cost. Statistics concerning overall PHS usage are impressive, providing evidence of PHS market expansion. Today, China boasts more than a million lines. Thailand's Personal Communication Telephone (PCT) service, the first public PHS service offered outside Japan, was launched in November 1999; it now has more than 250,000 subscribers. Beyond China and Thailand, PHS systems will be deployed in Taiwan, one of Asia's most competitive and fastest growing wireless markets, further validating the trend for greater PHS deployments in Asia. "By transitioning to wireless data and multimedia services, PHS is returning to its core value-proposition of providing affordable urban mobile communications throughout Asia," said Masaaki Hirose, PHS MoU Group Secretary General. PHS operators have gone through considerable technological restructuring during the past year to enhance their PHS offerings. The result has been a substantial improvement in service quality, especially in highly congested areas; new technologies have solved network capacity and service issues that plagued PHS service upon its inception, while stunting its growth after a highly auspicious start in Japan. Now, with the upcoming deployment of PHS network in Taiwan by First International Telecom Corp. (FITEL), along with the recent launch of commercial PHS services in Thailand and China, PHS is a growing technology that is helping to satisfy Asia's need for mobile voice and bandwidth-intensive wireless data services.