Posts Tagged NTT DoCoMo
Softbank tops mobile additions table for 24th month running (Japan)
Softbank Mobile added more new users than its rivals for the 24th month running in April, aided in part from a price reduction on the Apple iPhone 3G. Data published by the Telecommunications Carriers Association (TCA) of Japan showed that Softbank added a net 105,400 contracts last month, keeping its nose just ahead of fourth-placed eMobile with a net gain of 102,800. The TCA said eMobile’s performance was buoyed by the bundling of a low-priced mobile personal computer and a datacard, which attracted both business and residential customers. Market leader DoCoMo took third spot with a net gain of 89,300 and au-branded KDDI Corp gained 57,500. PHS operator Willcom meanwhile, reported a net decrease of 10,600.
Add comment May 13, 2009
Six operators to launch LiMo handsets this year
Six operators will launch mobile phones based on the LiMo operating system this year, announced the LiMo Foundation, an industry group promoting Linux software for mobile services. The operators planning LiMo devices include NTT Docomo, Orange, SK Telecom, Telefonica, Verizon Wireless and Vodafone. Further active operator participants in the LiMo Foundation include KTF, SFR, Softbank Mobile, Swisscom and Telecom Italia. To date 33 commercial handset models have been certified as LiMo Compliant, of which 10 will be on display at the Mobile World Congress by NEC and Panasonic. LG and Samsung will also show new prototype models at MWC in Barcelona.
The LiMo Foundation also announced that all technologies specified for the R2 release of the LiMo Platform have been contributed on time, and LiMo members are currently introducing reference implementations for devices. The LiMo Reference Implementations will include code specified within both LiMo Platform R1 and LiMo Platform R2. This code includes source code contributions from members as well as components originating from open source communities. LiMo Reference Implementation contributors include Access, Azingo, LG Electronics, Purple Labs and Samsung Electronics. The latest technologies in the LiMo Platform include support for features such as advanced multimedia, location-based services, device management and enhanced security. The LiMo Foundation also announced its endorsement of the OMTP Bondi specification, which future LiMo handsets using a web runtime will support for widgets.
Add comment February 11, 2009
Mobile base reaches 106.1 million users at end-January
According to data published by the Telecommunications Carrier Association (TCA), Japan was home to 106.1 million mobile subscribers by 31 January 2008, thanks to the net addition of 269,000 new connections in the month. The country’s third largest operator by subscribers, Softbank Mobile, once again led the pack in terms of net sign-ups, adding 120,400 new customers to close January with more than 20.12 million subscribers. It was followed by number one operator NTT DoCoMo, which added a net 64,300 new users to reach a total of 54.22 million, while KDDI gained just 12,600 mobile users to end the month with 30.56 million. Fourth placed eMobile signed up an impressive 71,700 net new subscribers to lift its total to 1.19 million and PHS operator Willcom shipped 20,800 customers for a total of 4.55 million.
Add comment February 9, 2009
Mobile, internet operations drive NTT 9M profits
Japanese behemoth Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp (NTT) today reported a 70% jump in net profits for the period April-December 2008, fuelled by solid growth at its fixed line internet business and mobile division NTT DoCoMo. The Tokyo-based telco said profit for the period under review climbed to JPY544.08 billion (USD6.5 billion), up from JPY322.22 billion in the corresponding period of 2007. Group revenues fell from JPY7.84 trillion to JPY7.73 trillion, although operating profit rose by 16% from JPY874.38 billion to JPY1.01 trillion. NTT has maintained its full year outlook of net profits of JPY560 billion on sales of JPY10.6 trillion, for the twelve months to 31 March 2009.
Add comment February 5, 2009
SoftBank, eMobile close to brokering network deal (Japan)
The Yomiuri Shimbun reports that SoftBank Mobile and eMobile have entered the final stages of negotiations over a tie-up in wireless data communications services in Japan. According to people familiar with the situation, if the deal goes ahead, Softbank Mobile, the country’s third largest mobile operator by subscribers, plans to introduce a flat-rate system for the services, using eMobile’s network. Softbank is looking to launch the new offer in spring 2009 – marking the first mobile virtual network operator deal between telecoms companies in Japan. The tie-up will allow both companies to take on bigger rivals NTT DoCoMo and KDDI in the hotly contested domestic market. In addition, Softbank Mobile plans to boost data-transmission speeds and set the rate for the service close to JPY4,980 (USD55.58) – similar to a two-year deal being proposed by eMobile and the lowest in the Japanese mobile sector.
Add comment February 3, 2009
DoCoMo’s nine-month profits up 16%, announces 2G shutdown March 2012
Japan’s mobile market leader by subscribers NTT DoCoMo recorded net profit for the nine months to the end of December 2008 of JPY437.7 billion (USD4.86 billion), up 16% from a year earlier, whilst operating income rose 19% year-on-year to JPY746.8 billion, despite revenues falling 4% to JPY3.38 trillion. The bottom-line improvement was partly attributed to handset sales and reduced churn. As of 31 December, the company had 54.16 million subscribers, up 220,000 from three months earlier. DoCoMo maintained its forecast for its fiscal year ending March, with a predicted net income of JPY495 billion, operating profit of JPY830 billion and JPY4.6 trillion in total sales.
DoCoMo also announced that it will terminate its 2G ‘Mova’ mobile service on 31 March 2012. At the end of 2008, around 88% of its total subscribers were on its 3G network. The remaining 6.7 million will be offered incentives to transfer from the legacy PDC (Personal Digital Communications) platform to W-CDMA/HSPA technology.
Add comment January 30, 2009
NTT Docomo grows nine-month net income 16%
Japanese mobile operator NTT Docomo reported revenues for the nine months to December of JPY 3.38 trillion, down 4.1 percent from JPY 3.52 trillion in the year-earlier period. Service revenues fell 8.8 percent to JPY 2.79 trillion. However, operating income rose 19.5 percent to JPY 746.8 billion, and net income totalled JPY 437.7 billion, up 16.3 percent from JPY 376.5 billion in year-ago period. Docomo ended December with 54.16 million subscribers, 87.7 percent of which are Foma subscribers. Churn in third quarter improved to 0.44 percent from 0.74 percent a year earlier, reflecting the effect of the new discount programmes and handset instalment plans. Blended ARPU was JPY 5,820 in the nine-month period, versus JPY 6,470 a year earlier. For the full year, Docomo maintained its forecast of JPY 4.59 trillion in revenues, operating income of JPY 830 billion, and a net income of JPY 495 billion.
Add comment January 30, 2009
Nokia launches ‘premium’ mobile service (Japan)
Nokia of Finland has launched a ‘premium’ mobile service in Japan using its high-end Vertu handset brand as a platform and piggybacking on NTT DoCoMo’s network to provide MVNO services to customers. The world’s biggest handset maker says the new service will be run by Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) as a managed service, allowing the MVNO to introduce value added services (VAS) without the need to invest in its own software, equipment, human resources and skills.
In November 2008 Nokia announced it was withdrawing from the Japanese mobile handset market, blaming the decision on its inability to make inroads in a country that heavily favours locally-developed technologies. However, the vendor said at the time it would continue to market its high-end, niche mobile phone Vertu. The announcement came just days after CommsUpdate reported that Nokia had revealed plans to enter the mobile market in Japan this year through an MVNO partnership with DoCoMo.
Add comment January 27, 2009
MIC to issue up to four 4G mobile licences (Japan)
The Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications (MIC) in Japan has reportedly outlined plans to allocate spectrum for so-called ‘4G’ mobile services to up to four carriers, reversing its original policy of selecting just two or three firms for the available frequencies. The licences, which will allow the winners to deliver data communications speeds comparable to those offered by fibre-optic services, could be up for grabs as early as June 2009. Antara News reports the MIC’s change of heart came after it decided to use a portion of the 1.7GHz band for 4G services instead of just the 1.5GHz band. Japan’s four main wireless operators – NTT DoCoMo, Softbank Mobile, KDDI and eMobile – have all expressed interest in the licences and it now seems likely that these four will each receive one of the new concessions.
Add comment January 27, 2009
NTT DoCoMo to complete TTSL investment by March 2009 (Japan, India)
According to Bloomberg, Japan’s NTT DoCoMo has said its USD2.7 billion investment in Indian wireline and mobile operator Tata Teleservices (TTSL) will be completed by March 2009. NTT has said that the acquisition of a 26% stake in TTSL has been held up as it awaits approval from local authorities. This is the second delay to the purchase, after it was initially deferred to 8 January by the Japanese cellco, due to the Securities and Exchange Board of India having not approved the transaction.
Add comment January 22, 2009
DoCoMo to shut down 2G service in 2012 (Japan)
Japan’s largest mobile operator by subscribers NTT DoCoMo is reportedly planning to terminate its second-generation (2G) cellular phone service in or around March 2012, in a move that would affect the cellco’s roughly 6.7 million subscribers who currently use it, The Nikkei reported Friday. DoCoMo stopped accepting applications for the 2G service on 30 November 2008, having seen the number of users steadily declining since peaking at 44 million a few years ago. With customers opting for its faster 3G (FOMA) network, the operator has taken the decision to phase out the increasingly outmoded system.
Add comment January 13, 2009
Japan: mobile base tops 105.8 million end-December
According to data published today by Japan’s Telecommunications Carriers Association (TCA), the country’s incumbent mobile operators collectively added a net 400,200 new users last month to end the year with a total 105.825 million mobile subscribers. Softbank Mobile recorded 135,200 net additions last month, compared with 36,000 for KDDI’s ‘au’ brand, and 120,400 for the country’s leading operator by subscribers, DoCoMo. At the start of this year, DoCoMo had 54.16 million customers, ahead of KDDI with 30.55 million and Softbank Mobile with 19.99 million. The market’s newest entrant eMobile added 108,600 new users to end the year with 1.12 million, while the leading PHS operator, Willcom, had 4.57 million customers, up just 1,300 from a month before.
Add comment January 12, 2009
Reliance Communications Starts Nationwide GSM Service (India)
Reliance Communications Ltd., India’s second-largest mobile-phone company, started nationwide wireless services based on the global system for mobile communications, or GSM, to gain customers.
Reliance Communications, which operates services based on the code division multiple access, or CDMA, standard, will initially cover 11,000 towns and 340,000 villages with its GSM service, Chairman Anil Ambani told reporters in Mumbai today. The operator has completed most of the capital spending on the second network and has spent 100 billion rupees ($2.1 billion), he said.
Ambani will use the network based on the popular GSM standard, which accounts for about 75 percent of India’s 336 million wireless users, to help Reliance Communications catch up with Bharti Airtel Ltd. and keep ahead of rivals such as Vodafone Group Plc and NTT DoCoMo Inc.
“We see no reason why we shouldn’t have a 100 million customers,” Ambani said. The operator had almost 60 million customers at the end of November, while Bharti had 83 million and Vodafone’s Indian unit had almost 59 million users.
Reliance Communications gained 7.2 percent to 228.15 rupees in Mumbai trading, the most since Dec. 10. The stock was the second-best performer today on the benchmark Sensitive Index, which rose 1.9 percent.
3G Services
India, the world’s second-largest mobile-phone services market after China, added more than 10 million subscribers for the third straight month in November and is set to attract more operators as it prepares to auction licenses for starting high- speed wireless services next year.
Telecom Regulatory Authority of India Chairman Nripendra Misra said in October, operators in the U.S., the U.K., France, Italy and Australia may bid for permits to offer the so-called third-generation, or 3G, services, further increasing competition.
Reliance may spend between 20 billion rupees and 40 billion rupees on 3G gear, Ambani said.
DoCoMo, Japan’s biggest mobile-phone operator, considers Asia its biggest priority for expansion, President Ryuji Yamada said on Nov. 18, a week after the company agreed to pay $2.7 billion for 26 percent of India’s Tata Teleservices Ltd. The purchase is aimed at giving the Tokyo-based company entry into the world’s fastest-growing major wireless market and is its largest acquisition in about eight years.
Tata Teleservices will spend $2 billion in the next two years to provide GSM-based wireless services, the Press Trust of India reported in August. Tata Teleservices, which currently offers CDMA mobile-phone services plans to start the GSM services by the end of the year in India, Press Trust said at the time, citing Anil Sardana, the company’s managing director.
Add comment December 31, 2008
DoCoMo-Tata open offer delays, regulator’s clearance awaited
NTT DoCoMo, Japan’s largest mobile-phone operator, and Tata Sons have postponed their joint open offer for up to 20 per cent of Tata Teleservices (Maharashtra) Ltd as it is yet to be cleared by the market regulator.
Add comment December 29, 2008
