DDI Corp., the largest new common carrier (NCC) in Japan, plans to merge its nine PHS companies 1 January 2000, as part of an effort to revitalize its ailing PHS business.
The name of the new company will be DDI Pocket, and Takeshi Okada, president of DDI Tokyo Pocket Telephone, will be appointed the new company’s president.
Due to harsh competition with cellular phone operators, the number of PHS subscribers in Japan has shrunk from its heyday of 7 million in 1997 to 5.71 million at the end of June.
As a result, DDI Pocket accumulated a total loss of 140 billion yen (US$1.26 billion) as of the end of March.
DDI decided to establish a single entity to enhance efficiency as a PHS service provider. DDI will support the elimination of accumulated losses through debt waivers.
DDI’s goal is to have 12 million cellular subscribers and 4.2 million PHS subscribers by the end of March 2004.
