TOKYO-NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile operator in Japan, gained merely 2,200 new subscribers for its third-generation (3G) services in September, which brought NTT DoCoMo’s total FOMA or 3G service subscribers to 135,700 at the end of September, according to the Telecommunications Carriers’ Association (TCA).
NTT DoCoMo launched FOMA service in October 2001, targeting to win 150,000 subscribers by March 2002. On the other hand, KDDI, the second-largest mobile operator, has won 510,300 new subscribers for its 3G services, which pushed up KDDI’s cdma2000 1x subscribers to 2.65 million. Keiji Tachikawa, president of NTT DoCoMo, at a recent press conference attributed the sluggish sales for FOMA to lack of killer content and short battery life of FOMA handsets.
According to the survey by TCA, the total mobile Japanese subscribers as of the end of September reached 72.0 million, a 0.6-percent increase from August. By company, NTT DoCoMo in September gained 239,000 new subscribers, which pushed up NTT DoCoMo’s total subscribers to 42.16 million; KDDI gained 122,600 new subscribers, increasing KDDI’s total subscribers to 13.05 million; while J-Phone gained 100,200 new subscribers, which pushed up J-Phone’s total subscribers to 13 million.
