Telecommunications

June 2006

NTT DoCoMo To Boost International Ops By Offering More Roaming Handsets
NTT DoCoMo Inc. intends to expand its international telecommunications operations by increasing the number of mobile phone models that are compatible with its global roaming service, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun learned Wednesday. Japan's top cellular phone service operator lags behind Vodafone KK in roaming services. Primarily designed to catch up with its rival in the sector, the move is also part of DoCoMo's efforts to retain customers ahead of the introduction in autumn of a system allowing mobile phone users to keep their phone numbers when they change carriers. On Wednesday, DoCoMo released one of two models in its new 902iS series of phones that can access the firm's roaming service through its third-generation mobile phone network. It is the first core handset series capable of roaming. The company also added to the Simpure line, a low-end, South Korean-made series that went on the market in April, a model that can be used outside Japan through both the 3G network and the GSM 2G network, which is a mainstream service overseas. The steps have brought the number of DoCoMo handsets capable of being used abroad to seven, with the company planning to come out with more roaming models in the future. DoCoMo's voice roaming service is available in 132 countries and regions for 2G service and 33, mostly European nations, for 3G service. The firm intends to add several countries to the 3-G roaming service by the end of this fiscal year. Though the service is not yet available in the U.S., the company aims to offer it there in the near future. Revenue from its global telecom-related business accounted roughly 25 billion yen in fiscal 2005, with the number of subscribers totaling about 1 million. DoCoMo targets 2 million users and a 60% rise in aggregate revenue from its international telecom operations to just over 40 billion yen this fiscal year. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, June 7, 2006)

Advisory Panel To Recommend NTT Group Breakup
The holding company for the Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. group should be dissolved around fiscal 2010 and the entire NTT group disbanded, concludes the final report due out Tuesday by an advisory group to Communications Minister Heizo Takenaka, The Nihon Keizai Shimbun learned Monday. The NTT group has too large a presence in the telecommunications industry, such as its almost monopolistic control of lines going into the homes, the report argues. But while calling for the group to be broken up, the report also suggests that the restrictions on business be loosened for the pieces that remain. The individual firms could then compete in a diverse range of fields, including broadband Internet, and users would benefit in the end. But it is far from clear whether the report will become official government policy. The NTT group is bound to protest, and even inside the Liberal Democratic Party, many politicians take a very cautious stance toward the reorganization of NTT management. Consequently, it is uncertain if a breakup will become part of official government policy. (The Nihon Keizai Shimbun, June 6, 2006)