Vodafone
Vodafone

Vodafone

Japan Prepares to Export 3G Phones

Originally published as a guest column in Fierce Wireless, 9 June – Ed.
If 2001-2003 has been Phase 1 of Japan’s 3G era (all three major carriers launched W-CDMA or CDMA 2000 networks in this period), then 2004 is definitely shaping up to be Phase 2 — and the difference is that now Japan 3G is moving overseas. The assault is being led in part by Japan’s keitai makers who, under NTT DoCoMo’s lash, have invested heavily in sophisticated new terminals and are now looking to markets further afield in order to generate additional ROI.

Yes, KDDI 3G Really Does Rock

I received a query from a long-time, astute, tech industry watcher last week after sending out the WWJ newsletter. I say “astute” not only because he’s a long-time WWJ fan, but also because he works as a high-level consultant in several fields, including auto electronics, software development, and marketing. His query focused on my comments that Vodafone’s 3G subscriber base was still tiny — with 151,400 compared to 3.58 mn and 13.99 mn at DoCoMo and KDDI, respectively, as of April 30. My numbers came direct from the Telecommunications Carriers Association (TCA) website, and he asked, somewhat skeptically, if these numbers were correct. I replied that they were and said that…

100th Webcast: Japan Mobile Rocks!

100th Webcast: Japan Mobile Rocks!From Tokyo’s ultra-buttoned-down cellco headquarters to the funky, cell-phone-using youth masses, Wireless Watch Japan brings you first-hand video reporting on this country’s mobile revolution — and now we’ve done it 100 times! To celebrate, the WWJ team decided to show you more of what makes Japan’s wireless Internet the world’s test-bed for high-speed W-CDMA and CDMA 2000 networks and ubersophisticated mobile applications. Today’s program serves, we think, as a showcase for the incredible developments happening in the Japan market — and provides highlights from some of the past episodes we’ve had the pleasure to bring you. Phew! Happy 100th webcast to us! Full Program Run-time 5:41.. Oh, wait there’s more… 😎

Vodafone Enacts Voluntary Retirement

Vodafone K.K. announced today that its Board of Directors passed a resolution to enact a voluntary retirement program. The program includes a special allowance in addition to the normal retirement allowance as well as job placement support. Some 600 employees are eligible for the program. The announcement comes as no surprise in light of the massive losses announced earlier.

Vodafone Holdings K.K. Plunges to 100 billion yen Loss

The Vodafone badge is deep red and Vodafone’s Japan arm is heamorraging yen; but, somewhat ironically, the flow isn’t quite as bad as the company thought. Today Vodafone Holdings K.K. announced it had lost 100 billion yen ($887 million!) in the financial year to 31 March 2004 compared to a proft of 79.5 billion yen in 2003 (when the company was still J-Phone). CEO Darryl Green had expected a loss of 114 billion yen, which would have been a super uncool $1 billion bucks at this week’s exchange rates, so it wasn’t quite as big a bloodbath as expected. Vodafone experienced revenue growth of 3.3%, but the company suffered operating, ordinary, and net income deficiencies due to increases in 3G depreciation costs, handset inventory provision, and retention initiatives. The skinny: operating revenues were down 7.9%, 0.3% worse than forecast at 1,665 billion yen against 1,797 billion yen last year. Within this, Vodafone K.K.’s operating revenues were 1,509 billion yen, up 3.3% compared to last year. Operating income plunged 32.9% to 185 billion yen from 275 billion yen last year.

Vodafone K.K. Announces Merger/ Buyout

Ahead of this afternoon’s press release, Vodafone Holdings K.K. and Vodafone K.K. put out a press statement saying they “jointly announce today that their respective boards have agreed to merge the two companies.” According to the statement, Vodafone Holdings K.K. will be the surviving entity and will be renamed Vodafone K.K. after the merger completes [sic]. In a separate announcement, Vodafone Group PLC announced Vodafone International Holdings B.V. (Vodafone International) will launch a 513-billion yen offer for shares in Vodafone Holdings K.K. and Vodafone K.K. Putting good money after bad?