JR East, NTT DoCoMo, and NTT DATA to Jointly Promote Suica e-Money Service
East Japan Railway Company (JR East), NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (DoCoMo) and NTT DATA Corporation (NTT DATA) announced today that they have agreed to jointly promote JR East’s Suica® e-money service. Through this joint venture, JR East aims to expand the number of retail shops and companies accepting Suica e-money, which will make it more convenient and attract more users. For DoCoMo, the expansion of the Suica e-money service will encourage use of its “Osaifu-Keitai” mobile phones equipped with contactless IC cards.
The three companies are considering forming a limited liability partnership (LLP) around autumn this year to provide the initial costs for any company wishing to join the Suica e-money service. In return, the LLP would receive a commission based on the amount of e-money used. Initial costs include the purchase of compatible terminals and modification of IT systems.
JR East is planning to launch Mobile Suica service in January 2006 in which DoCoMo’s Osaifu-Keitai will contain Suica, JR East’s IC card for railway travel and shopping.
NTT DATA, which provides settlement infrastructure such as INFOX®, aims to supply IT infrastructure to the companies joining the Suica e-money service.
The three companies are considering investing 400 million yen each to establish the LLP. A committee comprising of representatives from the three companies would make major decisions regarding the LLP, whose offices would be located at the JR East IT Business Division.
About East Japan Railway
East Japan Railway Company (JR East) is the largest passenger railway company in the world, serving about 16 million passengers daily. The company’s 7,526.8 km rail network covers the eastern half of Honshu (Japan’s main island), including the Tokyo metropolitan area. The company has 1,699 stations in its service area, and operates more than 12,000 trains on conventional lines and 307 trains on the Shinkansen daily. In addition to its railway business, JR East operates other kinds of business such as retail shops, restaurants in stations, hotels, shopping centers, and office building management.
The company introduced its “Suica” IC card in the Tokyo metropolitan area stations in November 2001 and the number of holders now exceeds 13 million. The area where Suica can be used is steadily being expanded.
About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is the world’s leading mobile communications company, serving more than 50 million customers. The company offers a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services, including i-mode®, which provides e-mail and Internet access to over 44 million subscribers as the world’s most popular mobile Internet service, and FOMA®, launched in 2001 as the world’s first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe, North America and Asia, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific and Europe. NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. For more information, visit www.nttdocomo.com.
About NTT DATA
NTT DATA traces its roots back to 1967, to the establishment of the Data Communications Bureau within Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Public Corporation (present-day NTT). The Bureau sustained consistent growth based on system development, building, operation, and maintenance across a broad front, ranging from nation wide systems that formed the cornerstones of society to a multiplicity of corporate network systems. In 1988 it began a new chapter in its story when it became NTT DATA Corporation.
Today, NTT DATA has grown into a group comprising 90 subsidiaries and affiliates. It possesses comprehensive strengths and has the best track record of any system integrator in Japan. It harnesses these many strengths to engage in business that is in keeping with its two priority management policies: “Enhancing the Competitiveness of the System Integration Business” and “Creating New Businesses.”
In an information network society, it is not enough simply to increase business efficiency and make daily life more convenient. NTT DATA is committed to using IT to shape the affluent society of the future, a place where information can be accessed at any time and in any place.