Japan’s second-largest wireless operator KDDI Corp. led its bigger and smaller rivals in customer additions last month as the carrier said it added 162,000 net customers in May, ending the month with 18.23 million total customers.
KDDI’s customer growth included 523,700 net customer additions to its cdma2000 1x-based au service, which was offset by the loss of 361,600 customers from its second-generation cdmaOne and PDC offerings and the loss of 20,000 customers from its Tu-Ka service. The carrier added that many of its second-generation subscribers shifted to its next-generation network.
KDDI also said its EZ Web mobile Internet service added 197,200 customers last month ending May with 11.33 million total subscribers.
Japan’s dominant wireless operator NTT DoCoMo Inc. said it added 116,000 net subscribers last month, ending May with 44.19 million total customers. The carrier said its W-CDMA-based FOMA network signed up 57,200 subscribers and ended May with 478,200 subscribers. NTT DoCoMo said it expects to have 1.46 million total FOMA customers by next March.
Japan Telecom Holdings Co.’s J-Phone wireless division, which is majority-owned by Vodafone Group plc, reported 132,400 net customer additions during May, ending the month with 14.3 million total customers. The carrier said its customer additions included 8,800 subscribers to its Vodafone Global Standard service, which allows customers to access the carrier’s next-generation network in Japan and roam internationally on GSM networks. At the end of May, J-Phone said its VGS service had 43,700 customers, and it expects to have 1 million customers by next March.
