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Carriers

i-mode Launch Cancelled in India

NTT DoCoMo has just announced that the company and Indian mobile operator Hutchison Essar Ltd. (“Hutch”) have agreed not to proceed with the contract signed on December 15, 2006 regarding the licensing of the i-mode mobile Internet service in India. DoCoMo and Hutch had been striving to launch i-mode service in India within 2007. Due to the changes in business environment, both companies concluded that it would be difficult to launch i-mode service at this time and agreed not to proceed.

DoCoMo Flat-Rate Data Subs Top 10 Million

DoCoMo just announced that subscribers to their flat-rate data communication billing plans “pake-hodai” and “pake-hodai full” surpassed the 10 million mark on May 1, 2007. The pake-hodai plan, launched on June 1, 2004, allows 3G FOMA i-mode subscribers unlimited viewing of i-mode content for a flat monthly subscription fee of 4,095 yen (including tax). The pake-hodai full plan, introduced on March 1, 2007, enables subscribers with full-browser handsets to view not only i-mode sites but also browse PC websites for a flat monthly subscription fee of 5,985 yen (including tax). Neither plan applies to data surfing using connected devices, such as PCs, and cannot be used outside Japan.

New Mobile Net Bank Announced

KDDI and Mitsubishi-Tokyo-UFJ Bank have jointly established the Mobile Net Bank Development Corp. in preparation for the two companies to launch their mobile ‘New Bank’. The entity has since been formalizing the business plan, finalizing products and services, and building the required core systems for the New Bank. Subject to approval from the appropriate authorities, KDDI, Mitsubishi-Tokyo-UFJ, and Mobile Net Bank have now agreed on the line-up of products and services and the commercial time frame for launch, which is scheduled to open midway through this financial year.

DoCoMo Reports FYE 2006 Earnings

Market leader NTT DoCoMo has just released their accounting for the fiscal year ending 2006. Net income dropped to 457.3 billion yen ($3.8 billion) in the 12 months to 31 March, from 610.5 billion yen a year earlier, when earnings included a 102 billion gain from share sales of Hutchison 3G UK Holdings Ltd. and KPN Mobile. While sales climbed 0.5 percent to 4.79 trillion yen annual profit was down YoY by 25 percent based on increased handset subsidies and 3G network upgrade costs. DoCoMo also noted that ARPU in the fourth quarter fell to 6,530 yen from 6,720 yen a year earlier.

DoCoMo 2.0 — Message Lost in Translation?

DoCoMo 2.0 -- Message Lost in Translation? by Mobikyo KKOn Monday 23 April NTT DoCoMo unveiled their latest 3G handsets, the 904i-series, at a press conference held here in downtown Tokyo.

WWJ pointed to this webcast of their presentation, which clearly stated from the very beginning the new “DoCoMo 2.0” campaign theme.

We shouldn’t really be surprised that the main message, from Japan’s dominant mobile operator, contained in the announcement somehow managed to get 2.0 attention from the mainstream media. With few exceptions, the entire tech web focused on the motion-sensor for gaming application. Few if any noted how ironic it was that while the company insisted it was going to “focus on offering unique applications and services that will be difficult for the competition to duplicate” they were in fact introducing a functionality which was originally made available in Japan [video here] by Vodafone and Sharp over two years ago.

Perhaps the gritty details — such as the fact that all five new models will (of course) ship pre-installed with the Osaifu-Keitai FeliCa mobile wallet together with related security services — are less appealing to the overseas media than Nokia’s recent announcement that they, too, have the mobile wallet urge?

To be sure, there were a few interesting new offerings in Natsuno-san’s presentation, such as the 2-in-1 dual-identity option and flat-rate access to Napster’s full music library service. However, one of the main observations we take away from this news is that the rest of the world still tends to focus only on the most quirky headlines (wait until the MSM find out about this one). WWJ subscribers login for our thoughts on this latest development.

KDDI Announces FYE 2006 Financials

KDDI has released their final accounting statement for the 2006 fiscal year, which ended 31 March 2007, at a press conference here yesterday afternoon. As reported in several other media channels the company reported a slightly lower net income, down 2%, on the year despite higher operating income thanks to the “au” mobile unit performance, which was up 11%, with net profit from the wireless operations increasing 44%. The company also revealed that they gained a net subscriber addition of 853,000 customers since mobile number portability took effect here in October last year. The full presentation webcast – in English – runs 1:45 and is available in Windows Media player Here.