Docomo reports more problems with its smartphone Internet service
Technology ( 42 )
TOKYO —
Following a technical problem last month that caused thousands of customers email services to be disrupted, NTT Docomo’s smartphone Internet service has continued to suffer from setbacks, the company said Monday.
Customers began to complain that emails were failing to send correctly on Jan 1 from around 9:30 p.m. for an hour. The problem reoccurred at 11:00 p.m. and continued until around 1:00 a.m., TV Asahi reported.
Docomo said about 204,000 customers were affected and blamed the problems on a piece of faulty equipment.
The problems come days after Docomo confirmed that a network problem in early December created a security risk that made it necessary to change the email addresses of around 18,700 of its customers.
According to the company, people who received an email from an sp-mode user were able to see the email address of another sp-mode subscriber as the sender’s address. As a result, if they replied to the message, their mails were sent to that address.
Following the incident, Docomo temporarily suspended the operation of certain sp-mode services that possibly could have been affected and is contacting the customers directly in an attempt to deal with complaints.
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42 Comments
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2
Yubaru
Deal with complaints? In a country that is supposedly well known for it's customer service the only method I have ever seen where a company dealt with it's complaints was to apologize. And that is not customer service, that's just hoping that the person on the other end accepts the apology and doesn't drop them as their service provider.
Unfortunately DoCoMo has enough customers that it can suffer the loss of a few, they don't care really.
0
MaboDofuIsSpicy
Why are these cell phones called smart phones? They cannot do anything unless you tell them to do something.
-1
Tom DeMicke
Funny, MaboDofulsSpicy! That's funny and is a good question! I am anxiously waiting for Docomo to come out with the Samsung Galaxy Note. I hope by then all these "smartphone" problems will be a thing of the past!
-2
some14some
troubles were quite anticipated.
-1
MaboDofuIsSpicy
We know that some14some.
Smart phones are only as good as the designers and as we know the network people in Japan are not to smart in general.
Ask SONY how their IT department is running.
0
Yubaru
Smart phones, computers, notebooks, laptops, ipod's what ever, are only as smart as the people using them. I'll bet that the overwhelming majority of people who own these phones can not use even 15% or 20% of the true "power" of these devices and only get some of them because it's fashionable.
Oh well....
-3
theResident
Better to suspend the service and deal with it properly then just let it go on causing problems. DoCoMo have suddenly found themselves with a problem they didn't anticipate with the new Winter Smartphones - over popularity, and frankly the infastructure was underprepared for it. One of the models, I believe its the 'Arrows Xi' model now has a waiting list stretching into February.
I do not work OR have any association with DoComo, but before people start to bash, please realise that this is the 'SP' Mode that is causing all the problems - its just an App so people can keep their docomo.ne.jp addresses. This is the biggest reason the DoCoMo do not carry the iPhone, Apple would not let them modify the iPhone to carry these email addresses. If they had, then DoCoMo/ Apple would probably have a 75%+ market share now. Half of all Japanese iPhone users carry two phones, keeping their older phone so they didn't lose their mobile phone address. Lets not forget that we were using mobile email here back int he late 1990's, whilst the rest of the world was still using SMS.
-1
Foxie
Yes, Japan just skipped the SMS part to my annoyance. I thought at the time that Japan was old fashioned, still there are many of my friends back in Europe who still don't have email on their cell phones. So, my struggle continues.
0
theResident
Why Foxie? You can now send SMS abroad with no problem at all, and finally cross carrier in Japan. Very overdramatic..'my struggle continues' when it is no longer a problem.
0
Saulo Akazawa
Ok docomo is finally trying to catch up with the smart phone frenzy. Just a bit too late... And the hole xi idea is great, I would love to get faster internet on my phone but one can only use up to 5 gigabytes of transmition that is ridiculous!!! What is the point of a fast net with a limited volume???
-2
theResident
@Saulo: haha - Catch up? They'll be the most dominant provider of smartphones a year from now. Good quality coverage always wins out in the end, better than those Softbank cowboys. Dinner on me if they're not.
1
Saulo Akazawa
Resident. That would be great!!! Maybe I could go back to using docomo. I DO think more we are in need of some heathy rivalry in our domestic market. Japan used to be a leader in Internet speed. One of the first countries to have Fiberglas as standard but now we are so behind in speed it is not even funny. Seoul, hong kong, with other countries have working 4G but here???
-3
lostrune2
People still using email to send short messages? Kidding.
But the future seems to be cloud computing now.
0
Foxie
theResident: not when you have AU
0
It"S ME
lostrune2.
Till the flaws in cloud computing become obvious.
Cloud computing is nothing new(used it 10yrs ago at my company) but something that was designed/destined to come and those flaws also been known since the start and few been addressed as of yet.
Real problem is that we are hitting the limits on the atomic clocks that are needed to keep internet transactions synchronised, running smooth, etc. Current controlling atomic clocks are getting too slow to cut a second into enough tiny slices to cater for the traffic. Ditto for wire/fibre max speeds on handling packages.
And Cloud computing will suffer from that the processors aren't really all that fast just counted in the thousands that all need to communicate between each other.
Most of modern super-computers are just that a cloud of their own.
-1
TimeiClic
Lol@anyone using the lame network bound email addresses they hand out here. The only way to do it is to sync gmail to your phone. Lose your phone and you lose all your emails with a phone bound mail address.
-4
Elbuda Mexicano
I cant live with out my email on my cellphone! Bad bad Docomo!!
-1
TimeiClic
Use your pake houdai to access gmail. Anybody using the @docomo mail is a fool
0
Yubaru
@Time, when I got my galaxy they asked me if I wanted a Docomo address, I told them no thanks. Phone based emails are dinosaurs of today.
-7
JapanGal
TimeiClic
Get an iPhone.
Sorry to hear about your bad Docomo situation. Us Apped Apple lovers have no problems.
3
theResident
@TimeiClic - That makes 48 million regular users fools then - and I think you will find the docomo mail is covered under Pake Houdai anyway, hence the massive uptake over the years. Please read my earlier comments about iPhone users KEEPING their other phones just for access to their docomo mail. You can sync any number of accounts of your choice to a smartphone, not JUST gmail and RETAIN those messages on the server without losing them. You have to get it through to your head that the Japanese have been using these 'lame' services for 15 years+, love the emoticon support, love the privacy and don't want to give them up.
@the Mexican : Once again, you are not reading anything properly - this affected SP mode anyway, NOT the regular email people have on their DoCoMo Smartphones, so you would be able to live just fine - probably better than now, on your slow,slow, softsignal Softbank.
@Foxie: I'm sorry to hear that - AU have been behind the times on so many things, International roaming etc, I'm not surprised to hear that. Well, you know you can keep your number these days, DoCoMo OR Softbank will welcome you with open arms for sure. I predict that AU and e-Mobile will merge in the near future anyway.
0
TimeiClic
Yubaru. Good stuff. You are correct. Glad someone on here has sense.
I have been purely net based with emails since back when docomo had the first android. Switched to softwank for the htc desire, now back on docomo for the brand new nexus. All of these syncd to the same gmail account. Only way to fly, if you have even half a brain.
3
TimeiClic
Japangal. Why would I get an iPhone when I have a Google Nexus?
4
theResident
@TimeiClic: In agreement here, Some of the Android phones, such as the Nexus are really begiinning to make the iPhone look very out of date and more telling, very slow.
1
TimeiClic
Cool. Yeah, it is an astonishingly accomplished device. For the record, I am a docomo fan, but believe that nobody should be using the @docomo mail system. Free, omni platform mail services are infinitely better.
3
theResident
Yes - I am in agreement with you, but for the moment they are here to stay, you can't just suddenly deny 48 million users something they are used to. Sure, the sensible people will gradually drift away from it, but do you really think Miss Average Teenager in Shibuya is going to? Just asking you to look at the (much) bigger picture. Enjoy the Nexus, it is indeed a remarkable telephone.
0
TimeiClic
I agree with you on every point! I think what I was originally getting at, was that if people did not handicap themselves with a proprietary mailing system, they would not be affected by such issues that docomo are experiencing at the moment. When the earthquake in 3/11 happened, I was standing outside a combini, happily chatting away to my family in the UK on Skype, accessing through an open Wifi spot whilst my friends and I all sent eachother emails on Gmail / whatever net based email service they were using without issue.
All around me were people moaning and crying because they couldnt send @soft/doco/ezweb whatever emails, and couldnt phone using their service providers phone number.
0
Yubaru
I "used" to have a Docomo mail address but it caused me all sorts of problems with trying to mail people who had other companies services. It was a real pain, and yeah it was a few years back. But now with first my android and now my galaxy using gmail has made things so much easier.
-8
whiskeysour
Softbank & AU Vs. Docomo
Softbank 3 points Docomo the big zero 0
-6
whiskeysour
my iphone is fine. Internet is great !!!! Sorry docomo
0
TimeiClic
whiskeysour; what do you use your iPhone for? If you are just sending mails and a bit of Youtube, softbank is OK. For anything that involves a better coverage out of the cities, it is incredibly lacking.
5
Yubaru
I prefer my Docomo Galaxy, all the benefits of an IPhone without having to pay for apps!
3
TimeiClic
Yubaru; do you have the Galaxy S 2? That is one hell of a phone!
1
Takuma7
Docomo Galaxy great phones just don't SP mail.
2
theResident
Yeah, I have the S2 LTE - great phone.
2
Yubaru
Yes I have the Galaxy S2!!
2
Carcharodon
Sp mode?? morons' ditch the sp mode and you obselete @docomo address and just use gmail, it's 2012 now .
1
TimeiClic
Carcharodon; my sentiments EXACTLY.
1
theResident
@Carcharodon: Hey, I agree with you, BUT I object you to calling 48 million of us 'morons' when we grew up with this stuff, whilst you were still back in the dark ages using SMS. Please read my comment above. Note the accent on privacy...how many people do you think maintain these accounts for purposes they would rather keep hidden from theit colleagues or family. It's the real world, please don't tell me you have ever had more than one active email account.
0
Carcharodon
More than one active email account? who doesn't ? I have have a quite a few - almost all gmail! a private one, business one, one with my real name for formal stuff, spam mail one, online gaming one.. plus my legacy hotmail account, and a yahoo one. All accessible on my android device and all the gmail ones on mozilla thunderbird with IMAP. You can have as many gmail accounts as you want on an android device, the wanting one legacy @docomo account argument for privacy is odd. Heck you can get a third party email app that can be hidden so that its virtually impossible to snoop. @docomo on a feature phone sure, on a smartphone it's totally obsolete - there are far better options! I have never used SMS, the cellphone I had in the dark ages back home was analogue and had no SMS, when I came to japan, I got on docomo and had @docomo email until I was liberated with the fully functioning gmail capability.
Why doesn't one of the tv channels have a tv show one night dedicated to showing off the abilities of the smartphone? you know instead of the usual mindless inane peurile variety garbage that proliferates the nightly offerings. Yep, that would be something. benefit everyone
As for SMS most smartphone users are wising up to the cross platform and borderless 'super SMS' services such as Kakaotalk and Line. These make old SMS seem stone age and "line" I believe even had free calling capability (like skype) the Emoticons are far superior, so it wont be long before the teenagers realize this and move towards such services in droves.
1
TimeiClic
Nothing personal, theResident; you seem nice, but I am totally with Carcharodon on this one.
Using @docomo is insane when the alternatives are better, and free. Nothing can compete with the features of a Gmail account, and like Carcharodon points out, you can have as many as you like, forward and redirect to your hearts desire, link it all to Google Docs, Chat, Google+ (if that is your thing), etc etc. @docomo has NOTHING on this.
Also, what is this idea of privacy you keep going on about? How is a Gmail account any less private than a @docomo account? If you mean that people use their @docomo account for stuff that they don't want people to access on their mail net based mail account, who only has one email account nowadays, and why would this be any more visible to anyone but the owner of the account? If you are smart, you will have separate email accounts for the different aspects of your life, then either access these separately (INCREDIBLY efficient to do this on an Android device), or forward them all to a single 'holding' Gmail account, and change the email address you are replying from in the drop down menu.
Also, I have not made an outbound call using my service provided phone number since getting android; all through Skype, which is mainly Skype - Skype calls (I tend to only associate with people are as equally tech savvy as me; call it friend-snobbery, if you will), or occasionally using my paid credit on Skype, which always works out a hell of a lot cheaper than it would if I went through the Japanese service provider. For the past 2 years, I have never paid more than the standard cost for my phone bill, as I ONLY use the data plan, and don't incur and cross service provider mail costs, nor do I incur any phone call charges outside of Skype. Skype also allows me to use my phone to call, even when the networks are down, as long as I can access to an open WiFi point.
A smartphone is a mobile computer with a dedicated phone number attached, that is all, and should be used as such.
And, to focus on your fact that 48 million people still use an @softbank/docomo/ezweb address does not make it right. It makes that 48 million people unwilling / unaware of change and happy to be stuck in the dark ages while the rest of us forge on into the future.
1
ubikwit
i have been ripped off by docomo in the past--first generation foma false advertizing on rates, etc--so i am no fan of docomo, but amalgamated google approach also seems wrongheaded to em. i have an au android phone that i have no complaints with, but i still use the au email account for daily family communications.
the notification sounds are different, and it offers a capacity to distinguish incoming emails.
what is the problem with that?
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