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DoCoMo to cut fees to compete with rivals (Japan)

  • June 13th, 2008
  • 2:20 pm

Japan’s leading mobile operator by subscribers NTT DoCoMo has revealed it is cutting its monthly mobile tariffs in a bid to match rivals KDDI and Softbank Mobile, as the domestic mobile price war begins to intensify. DoCoMo still controls roughly half the market but has seen its share whittled away by its rivals in the past year. This month, KDDI unveiled a JPY980 (USD9.12) per month plan to compete with number three player Softbank, which has won more subscribers than either of its larger rivals since April 2007 on the back of its low-price strategy and aggressive advertising campaigns. Reuters reports that DoCoMo is dropping its lowest tariff plan by nearly 7% to JPY980 from July to match the competition.

   

Mobile signups: KDDI, DoCoMo lose out to Softbank again in May (Japan)

  • June 6th, 2008
  • 2:58 pm

Softbank Mobile eclipsed larger rivals NTT DoCoMo and KDDI for the 13th month running, signing up 173,700 net new users compared with 60,900 for the NTT subsidiary and 72,400 for KDDI. Data published by the Telecommunications Carriers Association (TCA) shows that Softbank Mobile ended last month with 18.952 million customers, behind market leader DoCoMo with 53.544 million and second placed KDDI with just under 30.293 million. Mobile newcomer eMobile ended the month with 555,400 users, having added 51,500 new users on a net basis, and PHS operator Willcom had 4.614 million (up 11,200).

Earlier this week Softbank announced it had struck a deal to sell Apple’s iPhone before the end of the year, and analysts expect this will help to contribute to strong subscription growth for the operator in the short- to medium-term.

   

 
 

DoCoMo operating growth shows first rise in three years (Japan)

  • April 25th, 2008
  • 2:15 pm

Japan’s largest mobile operator by subscribers NTT DoCoMo today posted operating profit of JPY808.3 billion (USD7.7 billion) for the financial year ended 31 March 2008, up from JPY773.5 billion in FY2006/07 and its first operating profit growth in three years. The company attributed its stronger-than-expected performance to lower sales costs and the effects of other cost-cutting measures. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial had expected an operating profit of JPY795.4 billion for the year. DoCoMo said its net profit climbed 7.4% year-on-year to JPY491.2 billion, although revenues dipped marginally by 1.6% to JPY4.71 trillion. At the start of this year the cellco forecast its FY2007/08 revenue would be JPY4.667 trillion while operating profit would reach JPY780 billion and net income JPY467 billion. DoCoMo says it expects to post turnover of JPY4.768 trillion in its current financial year, as well as operating profit of JPY830 billion and net profit of JPY503 billion.

   

 

Softbank adds 210,800 new customers in December (Japan)

  • January 11th, 2008
  • 2:17 pm

Japanese mobile operator Softbank Mobile again led in subscriber additions in December, adding 210,800 new customers to end the month with a total of 17.61 million subscribers. Figures from the Telecommunications Carrier Association further show that Softbank was followed by KDDI, which posted net adds of 138,600 comprising 178,400 new au subscribers while the company shed 39,800 TU-KA customers, in line with the termination plans. KDDI had 29.19 million au subscribers and 359,200 TU-KA users at the end of the month. NTT DoCoMo added 121,500 new subscribers, of which 27,900 were 2in1 subscribers, to reach a total of 53.15 million. DoCoMo ended December with a total of 210,900 2in1 subscribers. The 2in1 service allows a single mobile user to have two phone numbers and e-mail addresses for a flat monthly fee. Newcomer Emobile added 83,600 new customers in December taking its total subscriber base to 205,900. Together, the mobile operators added 554,500 new customers and there were 100.52 million mobile users in the country. The number of PHS users in the country fell by 80,400 to 4.77 million. Willcom added 16,100 customers to end the month with 4.62 million and NTT DoCoMo, which plans to terminate its PHS service in 2008, shed 96,500 PHS subscribers and now has a total of 155,300 PHS users.

   

Softbank tops pile in mobile adds for eighth month in succession (Japan)

  • January 10th, 2008
  • 2:24 pm

Japanese mobile operator Softbank Mobile made it eight in a row in December, as it won more new subscribers than rivals NTT DoCoMo or KDDI Corp. According to data published today by Japan’s Telecommunications Carriers Association (TCA), Softbank recorded 210,800 net additions last month, compared with 138,600 for KDDI’s ‘au’ and ‘TU-KA’ brands, and 121,500 for the country’s leading operator by subscribers, DoCoMo. At the start of this year, DoCoMo had 53.15 million customers, ahead of KDDI with 29.55 million and Softbank Mobile with 17.40 million. The market’s newest entrant eMobile added 83,600 new users to end the year with 205,900, while the leading PHS operator, Willcom, had 4,616,900 customers, up from 4,600,800 a month before.

   

 

DoCoMo to exit PHS following drop in subscribers (Japan)

  • January 7th, 2008
  • 3:13 pm

Japan’s leading mobile operator by subscribers NTT DoCoMo is shutting down its personal handyphone system (PHS) mobile service from today, following another drop in subscriber numbers – down to about 155,000 at the end of December 2007 from a high of around 2.12 million in 1997. The Nikkei daily writes that DoCoMo plans to focus on bolstering its traditional 2G/3G mobile services which have been struggling to compete against those of its main rivals KDDI and Softbank Mobile. DoCoMo’s decision to exit the PHS market leaves Willcom as the sole provider of such services on a nationwide basis. Willcom was awarded a licence to operate next generation high speed wireless internet services at the end of last year plans to introduce a new PHS service in 2009 offering higher communication speeds and enhanced functionality.

   

 

KTF, DoCoMo buys 33% in Malaysia’s U Mobile (South Korea)

  • December 3rd, 2007
  • 2:50 pm

Korean operator KT Freetel and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo have agreed to acquire 33 percent of U Mobile, a new Malaysian 3G mobile operator that is scheduled to launch commercial service in 2008. Upon approval of the Malaysian government, KTF and DoCoMo will invest USD 100 million each, giving each company 16.5 percent of shares with voting rights. KTF and DoCoMo will jointly participate in U Mobile’s management and draw on their 3G expertise to enhance U Mobile’s competitiveness. The two companies intend in future to promote international roaming services through U Mobile’s 3G network for their respective customers traveling in Malaysia.

   

DoCoMo feels the pain of subscriber losses (Japan)

  • November 4th, 2007
  • 2:30 pm

A senior official at NTT DoCoMo said yesterday the cellco was experiencing ‘a sense of crisis’ over the loss of around one million subscribers since the introduction of mobile number portability (MNP) in Japan last October. IDG News Service quotes Kiyoyuki Tsujimura, DoCoMo’s executive vice president and managing director of products and services as saying: ‘In some months, we had a net decline in subscribers.’ Although the carrier still controls more than half of the market, the halcyon days appear to be over – at least for the time being. DoCoMo has launched a major push to sign up new users and retain existing ones, including the launch of 23 new handsets – the largest launch it has ever staged. The operator is mindful that customers have been switching to rivals KDDI (au) and Softbank Mobile in significant numbers, lured either by au Corp’s innovative feature-laden handsets or Softbank’s low prices.

   

 
 

DoCoMo’s net income falls 20%, plans reorganisation (Japan)

  • October 29th, 2007
  • 3:31 pm

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo saw its revenues fall in the first half of fiscal 2008 due to lower mobile services revenues because of changed accounting methods, the launch of new discount services and growth in the number of handsets sold. Operating revenues went down 2.4 percent to JPY 2.33 billion from JPY 2.38 billion in the year-ago period. Operating income and income before tax fell 21 percent to JPY 408.5 billion and JPY 410.9 billion, respectively. NTT DoCoMo’s net income went down 20.4 percent to JPY 246.5 billion from JPY 309.8 billion. The company ended the period with 52.94 million subscribers of which 40 million are FOMA users. Churn rose in the period to 0.90 percent due to mobile number portability. ARPU stood at JPY 6,550 down 3.8 percent year-on-year. For the financial year 2008, ending 31 March, revenues are forecasted to total JPY 4.67 billion (down 2.5 percent), operating income is expected to reach JPY 780 billion and net income is forecasted to go up 4.1 percent to JPY 476 billion. NTT DoCoMo further announced it will reorganise its group structure by integrating its eight wholly-owned regional subsidiaries. The group’s nationwide business operations will be consolidated under a single entity to enhance customer service as well as the speed and effectiveness of its operations. DoCoMo intends the reorganisation to be completed sometime during the second quarter of the fiscal year ending March 2009.

   

DoCoMo and KTF Announce Venture Fund (Japan)

  • October 16th, 2007
  • 1:35 pm

NTT DoCoMo and KT Freetel just announced that in November they will set up a venture fund in Korea to invest in promising mobile and IT firms. Through the fund, DoCoMo and KTF expect to identify promising companies for tie-ups in technology and other opportunities in the mobile and IT sectors. The fund will will operate for six years, with an option for a two-year extension, and will be managed by KTBnetwork Co., Ltd.

DoCoMo and KT Freetel will each invest 13.5 billion won (1.7 billion yen), in the fund, named as KTF-NTT DoCoMo Mobile Investment Limited Partnership, each taking a 45 percent stake. KTBnetwork will invest 3 billion won (378 million yen) for the remaining 10 percent stake. Joint investment undertakings are one of the goals of the business and capital partnership agreement concluded between DoCoMo and KTF on December 15, 2005.