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3G, DoCoMo, FOMA Milestones in Japan

April is emerging to be a milestone month in Japan’s 3G rollout. According to the most recent Telecom Carriers Association figures. Milestone One: Japan added a million new 3G subscribers in April. Milestone Two: April’s surge also simultaneously brought the total number of 3G users here to over 17.7 million. So what you say? Well, this also meant that for the first time Japan’s 3G user base passed 20% of Japan’s 82 million mobile subscriber base, or 21.6% to be precise, as of April 30! Milestone Three: DoCoMo added an incredible 530,500 FOMA subscribers. Not only was this up 483% on the same month a year ago, it was the FIRST TIME ever that DoCoMo beat KDDI au in net 3G adds!!

DoCoMo's 506i Series Launch Event

DoCoMo's 506i Launch EventWe’re not too sure about NTT DoCoMo’s motivation for fielding the first three models of the new 506i-series second-gen cellys. Sure, Big D have got to stay in front of the public eye with new models, new colours, etc. Japan’s consumer terminal market is nothing if not intensely competitive and trying to sell six-month old cell phones — which have often already lost 50% of their value at retail — is like, Oh, Soooo six-months old… Missing a slot in the handset upgrade cycle can be costly, as No. 3 competitior Vodafone has found to their regret. Full Program Run-time 14:32

Vodafone Launches 3G in Europe

Vodafone has chosen South Korea’s Samsung to provide its first 3G phone for their kickstart launch of services in Germany and Portugal, but hopes to expand its range over the coming months to include handsets from Sony Ericsson. People close to the operator said Vodafone was also in discussions with LG of Korea and Japan’s Sanyo to purchase additional phones, highlighting Asian manufacturers’ lead in 3G technology. However, Finland’s Nokia is also developing a phone for Vodafone.

DoCoMo Unveils 3 New 506i Handsets

DoCoMo unveiled the new mova® 506i series of three PDC (2G) i-mode mobile phones [.jpg image] in Tokyo and WWJ was on hand to video the event. These new handsets feature cameras with effective resolutions of more than one million pixels. They also come with infrared ports for exchanging data and photos with compatible handsets, performing infrared-based functions such as remote-control operation of appliances and authentication and cashless payments with your Visa credit card.

Qualcomm's Strong 3G Growth

Reporting net income up nearly 400% year-over-year, Dr. Irwin Mark Jacobs, chairman and CEO of Qualcomm said “Our financial results reflect the strong acceptance and rapid global growth of 3G CDMA”. Early 3G CDMA entrants continue to perform well, KDDI, the first CDMA operator in Japan, announced its sixth consecutive month as the leading Japanese operator in net subscriber additions, and now has approximately 14 million subscribers on its 3G network.

Vodafone Happy Talk?

Wireless Watchers will have noted that it’s changing-of-the-guard season in Japan, with NTT DoCoMo’s Keiji Tachikawa about to move on just as the company enters a self-described “paradigm shift.” We believe we know what his successor, Executive Vice President Shiro Tsuda, will be up to — mainly because DoCoMo strives at every opportunity these days to tell one and allit’s not a carrier any more, but rather a budding e-commerce service platform provider. More intriguing, however, are the senior staff developments at Vodafone’s struggling Japan opco, Vodafone KK (struggling, that is, through a device dry spell that won’t see any significant new 3G models out until the fall). Big V has just shipped over a new COO, David Jones, who has arrived, we guess, with a briefcase full of spring-cleaning items. Certainly the appointment of a new chief operating officer hints at a change of gear for the company. Is this a push to boost the lagging 3G provider from neutral to at least first gear?