W-CDMA Bugs Will Delay 3G Take-off. More evidence that the 3G roll-outs are not going to happen in any significant way for a couple more years.

Leading Japanese mobile vendor Matsushita has warned that ongoing technical problems with W-CDMA technology will delay mass market 3G take-up. According to the Financial Times, Matsushita president Yasuo Katsura has been quoted as stating that Japanese W-CDMA glitches will take until mid-2003 to solve. Katsura’s statement casts further doubt on NTT DoCoMo’s ability to meet its target of signing up 1.29 million 3G subscribers by March 2003.