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Vodafone Japan 3Q Results Released

Extract: Vodafone K.K.’s 3G devices increased by 564,600 in the quarter, bringing the number of 3G subscribers to 2,318,200, whilst market share of 3G net additions remained fairly constant throughout the quarter at just over 10%. Blended ARPU for the quarter was down 3.7% year on year, an improvement from the 5.4% fall recorded in the quarter to September. The continued fall in ARPU reflects the loss of higher value customers in the previous year and competitive pressures on pricing. Blended ARPU for the quarter was down 3.7% year on year, an improvement from the 5.4% fall recorded in the quarter to September. The continued fall in ARPU reflects the loss of higher value customers in the previous year and competitive pressures on pricing. The improved trend is due in part to the positive impact from the new range of flat-rate plans, which are generating additional usage. Service revenue fell 4.5% year on year due to the decline in ARPU. Voice revenues fell 6.2%, with non-voice revenues broadly stable. The improvement versus the previous quarter can be attributed to an improved ability to retain customers, resulting from a better handset line-up and service offering. (WWJ subscribers log in for more details).

Vodafone KK December Subscriber Count

Vodafone have just released their December net adds: 63,700, showing a strong 3G gain of 236,800 and a to-be-expected 2G loss of 173,100. This indicates the carrier gained at least some new 3G customers from other carriers if we assume all Vodafone 2G customers who upgraded to 3G stayed with the carrier. Vodafone KK subscribers are now, overall, trending up, if still slowly.

KDDI Posts December Sales

KDDI have just posted their December net adds: 348,300, based on an increase of 398,300 in CDMA 1X users and a loss of 50,000 cdmaOne (2G) customers. This compares to DoCoMo’s presumed increase of 1,422,700 based on their public November FOMA count of 18,588,300 and their statement last week that they surpassed 20 million on 29 December. No word yet from Vodafone nor from the TCA website. Link to full details after log-in.

DoCoMo to Grab 3G Lead from KDDI

DoCoMo to Grab 3G Lead from KDDIIn the 1997 movie Titanic, Thomas Andrews, the ship’s designer, states: “From this moment, no matter what we do, Titanic will founder… It is a mathematical certainty.” In the same light, it’s interesting to note today’s news from NTT DoCoMo, stating the carrier surpassed 20 million 3G FOMA subscribers on 29 December 2005. If we assume the same rate of growth this month, and compare to KDDI’s presumed rate of growth in December and January, we can make a pretty good guess as to when Big D will grab 3G lead. More importantly, what does this mean for the market?

(Excerpt from full article) We can also expect January to be a good month for phone sales — for all carriers — due to a rather significant practice in Japanese culture: o-toshidama. This is the practice of giving gifts of money to children and teens. The money is usually given in little decorative envelopes, and according to 1999 data from the Kumon Children’s Research Institute, an average child received around 40,000 yen (I guess it’s more now). Most significantly: “Most save the money, [but] others spend it on relatively expensive computer games, clothes, and CDs.” And phones, we suspect.

DoCoMo to Release New 2G Handsets

NTT DoCoMo is set to release two new 2G models early next year, according to the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. Quoting company sources, the move is aimed at preventing DoCoMo’s subscribers from switching to rival phone companies because of communication issues for its FOMA 3G phones in some rural areas. It added that the new models would be developed and produced by Panasonic Mobile Communications and NEC Corp.

Vodafone Launches New Handsets & Service

Vodafone K.K. today announced it will commence sales of the Vodafone 702NK II (Nokia 6680) 3G handset, a Symbian OS smartphone, on 17 December 2005. The 702NK II allows customers to view Microsoft Word, Excel and other documents on their handsets and is the carrier’s first device to support their new Vodafone Office Mail service. The company also unveiled an ultra-slim 2G handset from Toshiba, the V502T, which will go on sale from the end of January 2006.

3G Network Limitations Define Mobile TV

3G Network Limitations Define Mobile TVIt’s rare for WWJ editors, a jaded bunch, to get too excited about new service announcements, but on 6 December, we jumped on this fresh Vodafone press release that seemed to herald the emergence of the rather cool, made-in-Japan ‘Vodafone Live! BB’ (BB= broadband) music- and video-download service into the Group’s European markets. Vodafone live! BB uses the ‘i-Pod model’ to get large media files onto mobile phones, avoiding network traffic fees and should be, we have always thought, a no-brainer for export to Vodafone Opcos outside Japan. Don’t mobilers everywhere want to save on packet/data fees and get audio and DVD-quality video onto their handsets?

FY2005 Mid-Term Demand Forecast for Telecommunication Equipment

CIAJ’s Research and Statistics Committee has compiled its annual mid-term demand forecast. A slowdown in new subscribers pulled the growth rate of cellular handsets down, a break in capital investments by fixed telecommunication carriers decreased demand for modems and central office switching systems, and the transition to multipurpose equipment had a negative impact on facsimiles for business-use. On the other hand, continued healthy growth was seen for business and personal multipurpose equipment, optic communication equipment and routers. Strong interest in security and contingency planning for disasters pushed demand up for fixed communication equipment and other consumer equipment, migration of public PHS users to new carriers, and PHS subscriber growth due to new services contributed to the CIAJ forecast of flat overall growth at 4,138.5 billion yen (negative growth of 0.4% over the previous year) for FY2005. The midterm outlook for the telecommunication equipment market from mid FY2006 onward expects steady market growth, with further migration from 2G to 3G mobile communications, the transition from ADSL to FTTH, the switch to IP, and the lasting popularity of multipurpose equipment.

Starhub's EASi-Mode for Singapore

Even before its official launch, StarHub’s i-mode has more than 50 content providers on board. The list includes MediaCorp TV, MTV, OCBC Bank, Yahoo!, Far East Flora and Zuji Singapore. StarHub hopes to attract 50,000 users within the first year, but i-mode is a unique proposition. The service requires i-mode compatible phones from the likes of Samsung and NEC, so you cannot use other 2G or 3G handsets to access the service. StarHub will reveal full details to the press tomorrow.

Web Update: 18 Nov. DoCoMo PR confirms.

Japan Approves Three New Groups for 3G

Japan Approves Three New 3G CarriersBack in 1999, when I was editing Computing Japan magazine, we ran an article entitled “Third Generation Mobile: Three Groups for 3G” looking at the three groups — NTT DoCoMo, IDO-DDI (later, with KDD, KDDI) and IMT-2000 Planning Corp. (later J-Phone) — lining up for a new license. The prediction was that “success for the 3G business depends on the digital content.” Now, 7 years later, three new hopefuls are lining up in a far more mature market, and not only content but also terminals, churn, number portability and voice versus data will be significant factors.

On November 10, Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications said it would grant three new carriers licenses to operate in the 1.7 and 2 GHz bands; BB Mobile of Softbank Corp. and e-mobile of eAccess Ltd. will offer services based on W-CDMA technology while IPMobile Inc. will offer Japan’s first TD-CDMA-based services. The three are expected to launch later in 2006.

The three newcomers are entering a highly competitive market dominated by three existing incumbents: NTT DoCoMo Inc., KDDI Corp. and Vodafone K.K., which reported a collective 89.4 million subscribers as of October 31. The new players are expected to expand the variety of wireless services and pricing levels available, providing more choice and lowering costs — not least of all for terminals — according to one ministry quotation.