Mobile Users
Mobile Users

Mobile Users

DoCoMo 3G Subscribers Top 20 Million

NTT DoCoMo just announced that the number of subscribers to their 3G FOMA service surpassed the 20 million mark on December 29, 2005, a little over four years since the service’s launch on October 1, 2001. DoCoMo attributes the rapid subscriber growth to its expanding range of 3G handsets, including new 902i FOMA models equipped for PushTalk walkie-talkie-style communication, ToruCa information download services and i-channel automatic telop-style information updates. The company expects FOMA subscriptions to reach 23.5 million by the end of March 2006.

University Students Trial Free IC-Phone

The Kanagawa Institute of Technology (KAIT) announced it would adopt a student ID card system utilizing contactless IC cards and mobile phones equipped with the equivalent functions. The IC cards and mobile phones can be used for automatic record of attendance, admission to buildings and issuance of various certificates. In addition, the system allows purchase of goods by using “Edy” electronic money. According to KAIT, it will be the first university in Japan to use mobile phones as student ID cards. As a first step, the university will provide 1,200 newly enrolled students with free mobile phones.

Japan Puts Its Money on e-Cash

Electronic money emerged four years ago as a convenient tool for fast-paced train commuters. The Japan Research Institute, an economic research group, estimates that at least 15 million people here are now using e-cash, a figure projected to reach 40 million — about one in every three Japanese — by 2008. The number of e-cash transactions reached 15.8 million per month in 2005, more than double last year’s figure, according to Japan’s two largest electronic money providers. E-cash is being accepted at convenience stores, department stores, cafes, restaurants, newsstands and electronics retailers — enabling users to go shopping carrying nothing but their cell phones. At some supermarkets, up to 40 percent of all purchases are made with electronic money.

Bandai Brings Tamagotchi Mobile to EU

Bandai Networks Japan is collaborating with Living Mobile Germany, a European developer and marketer of mobile-phone games, to offer a mobile-phone version of “Tamagotchi” for telecom providers throughout Europe. Bandai created a global craze when it released the hit portable LCD game in 1996, selling 40 million units worldwide. In 2004, the “Tamagotchi Connection” series was released, and has already sold over 15 million units worldwide, the mobile-phone version will be available across Europe beginning in December 2005, according to the company.

Mapping the Mobile Consumer Mind

Marketing initiatives targeting the mobile consumer must integrate communications and content in order to have the greatest impact, according to a study published this week by researchers at the International University of Japan. Based on the results of 30 in-depth interviews of mobile users in Japan and Indonesia, this research effort developed clearly defined “mental maps” which explain the ebb and flow of consumer perceptions of the mobile Internet. In fact, results show very few culturally specific differences between Japanese and Indonesian respondents, suggesting instead that international differences in usage of advanced mobile data are due to infrastructure differences and the overall structure of a country or region’s mobile value chain.

Mobile Cohesion and ubit Co-operate to Develop Mobile Content for Communities

Mobile Cohesion, the company that has pioneered the concept of partner, profit and performance focused relationship management solutions for the mobile industry, has announced a collaboration venture with leading content management company ubit from Japan. ubit has been focusing on the mobile internet since 1999 and its MS2 system is now serving more than 300 mobile sites worldwide, including Orange Group and Nikkei Business Press.