DoCoMo Nets Biggest Rise In Japan Mobile Phone Service Users

TOKYO -(Dow Jones)- NTT DoCoMo Inc. (9437.TO) booked the largest net increase in subscriptions among Japan's top three mobile phone carriers in February, according to data released by companies Monday.

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's larger mobile carrier, said it added a net 246,100 users in February, bringing the total to 48.345 million subscribers. The company added a net 925,700 users to its "FOMA" third-generation mobile service, lifting the total 10.242 million subscribers in February.

KDDI Corp. (9433.TO)'s "au" mobile phone service added a net 183,700 users. The total number of subscribers for the second-largest Japanese mobile phone operator, including users of its second-generation mobile services, rose to 19.106 million.

KDDI, which leads its larger rival NTT DoCoMo in the total number of 3G subscribers by a large margin, said it had about 17.393 million 3G users in February, up a net 278,200 from the previous month.

Vodafone K.K., the Japanese unit of Vodafone Group Plc. (VOD) of the U.K., continued to shed customers. It had 15.099 million subscribers in February, down 53,200 from the previous month when it lost 58,700 users. Of the total, its new 3G subscribers increased on a net basis by 148,000 to 675,000."

Posted to the site on 7th March 2005