Shares of KDDI Corp., Japan’s second- largest mobile-phone operator, rose 2.4 percent after the company said users are spending more on services such as high-speed access to the Internet and video clip services. KDDI yesterday said users spent an average of 36 percent more each month in the April to June period as they sent text messages, surfed the Internet and viewed video clips.
Tim Harrison’s speech was the highlight of Wireless Japan 2003 for many — an oasis of information in an otherwise dreary lineup of pat speeches by DoCoMo’s Tachikawa and KDDI’s Onodera. Harrison talked eloquently about the guiding principles that have let V-Live grow to 1.5 million, the lessons learned from Japan, and how their service is different from the domestically brilliant, and so far internationally dismal, performance of various i-modes.
Japan’s wireless broadband networks are rapidly accelerating with the development of cutting-edge technologies and Wireless Japan 2003 is the place to see it all. We’ve put together quite a package from this year’s show, including an on-camera interview with Vodafone Global Content Services’ Tim Harrison on his view on how V-Live is different from i-mode. We grabbed shots of Sanyo’s OLED 3G concept-model handsets and KDDI Labs’ new TV-Mobile unit; and caught up with Gartner Japan’s Mitsuyama-san who gave us her take on this year’s conference. Full Program Run-time 15:35
While Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communication Inc. was celebrating its launch of the nation’s first 3G mobile services yesterday, telecom industry analysts said the high-speed mobile Internet service is not expected to become mainstream in the Taiwan market in the short term.
KTF Co, the No.2 mobile operator, said earnings fell about 4.5 percent in the second quarter of 2003 because of higher interest payments and one-off charges. Smaller rival LG Telecom saw its net profit plunge 57 percent because of higher operating costs.
KDDI and Okinawa Cellular Telephone will reduce communications fees for GLOBAL PASSPORT – an international roaming service that enables au mobile phones to be used in Japan as well as overseas – by up to 53% effective August 1. In addition, GLOBAL PASSPORT is scheduled to launch in Thailand in cooperation with the Communication Authority of Thailand (CAT) on August 8, and in Taiwan with Asia Pacific Broadband Wireless Communications Inc. (APBW), a mobile service operator, as soon as preparations are completed.
