TOKYO-Vodafone K.K., the Japanese subsidiary of Vodafone Group plc, lost nearly 40,000 subscribers during April, according to data released by Japan’s Telecommunications Carriers Association. The loss is the carrier’s fourth straight month of subscriber losses.
Rivals NTT DoCoMo Inc. gained 250,000 subscribers during the month, and KDDI Corp. added about 238,000 customers.
Vodafone added 141,300 W-CDMA third-generation subscribers during the month compared with 739,200 new W-CDMA users for NTT DoCoMo. KDDI, which offers CDMA2000 1x 3G service, added 313,400 customers during April.
Vodafone also lost 45,800 subscribers to its Vodafone Live! multimedia service, which has enjoyed success in other markets around the world. DoCoMo added 268,600 i-mode subscribers, while KDDI increased its EZ Web mobile Internet subscriber base by 216,300 users in April.
