Full service will commence from October onwards if all goes to plan. The company had originally intended to launch its 3G network this month.
Software glitches have delayed the service with DoCoMo hoping the trial will purge the system of software and hardware bugs.
The main concern with the prototype technology is that the screens of the 3G phones are likely to freeze, with reboot the only solution.
The network itself is also limited with the Japanese telecoms ministry yet guaranteeing technical quality of the 3G service.
A nationwide service could arrive in a little over a year’s time.
The new 3G offer subscribers 40 times the speed of current data transfer, with a series of multimedia application able to facilitate network access, video/audio streaming and e-mail.
Docomo has christened the new service Foma or freedom of mobile multimedia access.
Participants in the trial were given the handsets for free, but have to pay a fee for the amount of data they send or receive.
Three minutes of data transmission will cost them between 100 and 150 yen ($0.83-1.25, GBP 0.60-0.88).
The price of the handset when it becomes available commercially is unclear, with handsets in Japan already expensive, yet if the technology is able to live up to promises the new phones will surely become not only a business but a social essential.
