KDDI’s Mobile Revenues Up

Japan’s No. 2 telecoms operator KDDI has said operating profit stagnated in the year to March as a strong performance by the mobile arm offset weak fixed-line operations. Net profit fell five percent to 190.6 billion yen as the company took a charge to write down the impaired value of its old cellular phone facilities. Revenue from its mobile business rose 8.6 percent to 2.51 trillion yen from a year earlier helped by the rising popularity of music downloading service, the expansion of subscribers and a revision in pricing plans.

Subscribers to its “au” brand 3G service rose to 25.4 million at the end of March, from 23.1 million a year earlier. Average revenue per user for the year however, dipped to 7,040 yen a month from 7,170 yen a year earlier. “The mobile phone business accounts for 80 percent of revenues and it continues to lead the company,” KDDI president and chairman Tadashi Onodera told reporters. Continue>>