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Softbank Returns New License

Softbank Corp. told the government that the Internet conglomerate will return a license it acquired in November 2005 when the ministry also awarded new carrier licenses to eAccess Ltd. and IP Mobile Inc., Softbank said it has adopted the more cost-effective measure of using the infrastructure set up by Vodafone K.K., Vodafone Plc.’s Japan arm, rather than starting business from scratch. Softbank President Masayoshi Son met Heizo Takenaka, the communications minister, to inform him that he was returning the business license.

DoCoMo Releases FY 2005 Fiscal Results

NTT DoCoMo today announced consolidated financial results for the company and its subsidiaries for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2006. According to the companies published highlights: operating revenues were down 1.6%, operating income was up 6.2%, income before taxes was off 26.1% and net income was down 18.3% year-on-year (link for the full 47-page report is available after log-in).

BTMU, KDDI Announce Mobile Banking JV

The Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ and KDDI Corp. announced they will jointly set up a bank that will offer money transfer, settlement and other financial services through mobile phones. BTMU and the “au” mobile phone operator have agreed to establish a preparatory company, possibly in May. Japan’s first Internet-based bank designed for handset users is expected to start operations in early 2007, they said. [Thus confirming our earlier post here on 13 April — Eds]

SoftBank Assumes Control of Vodafone K.K.

Vodafone K.K. just announced that today’s Extraordinary General Meeting and Board of Directors Meeting saw the company officially appoint a new slate of directors and executive officers, who assume their posts effective today. Masayoshi Son is now Representative Executive Officer, President & CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors of, the soon to be former, Vodafone K.K. (Subscribers login for full details on the new management line-up).

Sprint Introduces Espresso Mobile Phone

Consumers now have more choice in color mobile phones, as Sprint and Sanyo just announced the introduction of the SCP-3100 series. Available in four trendy colors, Pure Silver, Blue Energy, Always Pink, and the “hottest color to go mobile,” Espresso! According to Danny Bowman, vice president of product marketing for Sprint “Each family member can own the phone in a different color, making it easy to tell a child’s phone from a parent’s as you’re rushing out the door in the morning. Sanyo is the first in the U.S. to introduce the color Espresso in a handset.” [Funny, it looks sorta brown to us — Eds]

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.