Japan Telecom Profits Fall on 3G Costs

Japan Telecom Holdings owned two-thirds by Britain’s Vodafone Group said on Tuesday that half-year operating profit fell 12 percent due to the hefty cost of building up its 3G network. Its wireless unit, Vodafone KK, known as J-Phone until September, scrambled to expand the area coverage of its high-speed 3G network this year in a bid to catch up with NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp.

Group operating profit at Japan’s third-largest telecoms operator totalled 125.32 billion yen ($1.15 billion) in April-September, compared to 142.76 billion yen a year earlier. Shoring up the performance of the wireless unit is crucial for Japan Telecom Holdings as well as the British parent since Vodafone agreed in August to sell Japan Telecom’s fixed-line unit to U.S. investment firm Ripplewood Holdings for 261.3 billion yen to concentrate on its cellphone operation. Continue >>