NTT DoCoMo’s posts a subscriber base of 4.60Mn at March’09-end (Japan)

www.WirelessFederation.com/news: NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s leading mobile operator, has posted revenues of JPY 4.448 trillion for the fiscal year ending March 2009, a fall of 5.6% since a year earlier, as the discount price scheme hit service revenues. The operating profits grew to JPY 831 billion from JPY 808 billion as lower handset sales reduced costs, whereas net profit dropped to JPY 472 billion from JPY 491 billion.
DoCoMo’s new growth strategy launched a year ago brought in reduced churn, to 0.5% since last year when churn rate stood at 0.8%. On the other hand, new discount price schemes such as Fami-Wari Max50 led to a 10.2% drop in ARPU, to JPY 5,710.
The Japanese operator added 1.21 million new subscribers, taking the total to 4.60 million at end-March, of which almost 90% used the Foma 3G services.
DoCoMo said that the operator will continue with its sharp pricing policy, calling for further reductions in data and group price plans, as well as enhanced customer service and loyalty programmes.
The operator also plans to start its HSUPA services at up to 5.7 Mbps upload from June’09. The operator further forecasts revenues to drop to JPY 4.382 trillion this year, operating profit is estimated flat at around JPY 830 billion, while net profit should grow to JPY 493 billion. Subscriber additions are expected to be sluggish nearly 116,000, while ARPU will drop further to an estimated JPY 5,280.