The April subscriber numbers are public and the news is mixed, at best, for Big V. Vodafone KK suffered a loss of 180,800 2G subscribers but only gained 141,300 3G users, for a net loss of 39,500 subs. This has got to be disappointing given that the March’s loss had fallen to a mere 7,400 and company management were likely hoping April would see a turnaround with the net change moving into the black.
NTT DoCoMo and KDDI Corp. may say Q4 operating profit fell as they paid retailers more to lure shoppers and promote new handsets. DoCoMo’s operating profit probably dropped 83 percent to 44.4 billion yen ($420 million) in the three months ended March 31, according to the median targets of nine analysts in a Bloomberg survey. The company’s biggest rival in Japan, KDDI, may say operating profit, or sales minus the cost of goods sold and administrative expenses, fell 6.8 percent to 53.5 billion yen.
Vodafone K.K. announced that today it has applied to the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications for licenses to operate W-CDMA experimental radio stations on the 1.7GHz frequency band, marking the first time in Japan for an existing 3G mobile operator to apply for a field test license on this frequency band. After receiving a field test license, Vodafone K.K. plans to conduct field tests for approximately 6 months in Chiba prefecture to investigate radio wave propagation characteristics and building shadowing effects, as well as measure in-building penetration loss while operating on the 1.7GHz frequency band.
DoCoMo ruled 2004 with their 900i-series 3G phones and exclusive Final Fantasy VII spin off game ‘Before Crisis’ but spring 2005 belongs to KDDI. Japan’s leading 3G carrier has just whipped out a whole new posse of BREW-based mobile multiplayer games for their WIN CDMA 1X 3G handsets: Bandai’s Gundam (Kidousenshi Gundam 3D Meguri Ai Sora Hen); Bomberman 2 from Hudson; Armored Core; Ace Combat by Namco; Sega Rally; Street Fighter II and more. In February, KDDI launched EZ Game Street a new gaming platform powered by Square Enix; the user-friendly image-based interface and landscape of 350 games is set to become even more engaging with this boulevard of multiplayer options powered by new, fixed data rates.
Vodafone K.K. announced that on 27 April it will launch a service that lets customers confirm personal safety information concerning their family and friends via the Vodafone live! mobile internet service in the event of a major disaster, such as a large earthquake. For the two week period of 27 April to 11 May, Vodafone K.K. will offer a trial version of its Disaster Message Board Service so customers can get familiar with the service details and methods of use. After this initial period, the same trial service is scheduled to be available on the first day of every month (excluding the month of January).
ACCESS announced the immediate availability of its NetFront for Series 60 702NK edition mobile browser for Vodafone K.K. 702NK (Nokia 6630) smartphone users. NetFront for Series 60 702NK edition mobile browser retails for 2,500 and can be purchased for download from Vodafone K.K.’s Vodafone live! site in Japan.
