TOKYO -- KDDI Corporation (TSE: 9433) and Tokyo FM Broadcasting Co., Ltd. have agreed to jointly develop and commercialize a new service integrating programming to be broadcast over digital terrestrial audio network and telecommunications on the KDDI wireless network. The service trials will be launched on October 10th.

The companies have also agreed to conduct field trials using PDAs with communication functions to test various content services including content downloads, radio shopping, distribution of electronic program distribution, and survey participation, among others, which will be provided over the 3 segment of an enhanced digital terrestrial radio service to be launched in February 2004. A prototype of the device being developed for that service will be presented during the CEATEC Japan 2003 event to be held from October 7 to 11th in Tokyo.

"Digital Radio 98 - The Voice"

TOKYO FM will launch the terrestrial service dubbed "Digital Radio 98 The Voice", together with Nippon Broadcasting Systems Inc. (Head office: Minato-ku, Tokyo; President: Akinobu Kamebuchi) and Japan FM Network (Head office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; President: Yasuo Okada). The partners are planning a series of new multimedia services that add-in various broadcasting services, including high quality musical broadcasting, simple videos and texts, using the 3 segment digital terrestrial audio broadcasting.

"Digital Radio 98 The Voice" hopes to promote and encourage the use of digital radio through offering programs that bring creative impact and a feeling of community to its audience. The three broadcasting companies, through this field trial and other field broadcasting trials going forward, will further enrich content and offer many new services to listeners.

KDDI will use this field trial with "Digital Radio 98 The Voice" to study services that integrate broadcasting and communications with wireless, and identify the technology issues for further developing these services in the future. For this, KDDI has produced a prototype wireless receptor handset composed of a communication-enabled PDA and an audio broadcasting receptor unit supporting each of the 3 segment digital terrestrial audio broadcasting.

KDDI has also developed a digital radio player (with application software for receiving digital radio) which is enabled to access the Internet from the content broadcast. KDDI will continue to improve on its convergence technologies, and plans to offer a steady series of new products in services in the future.

KDDI Corp.