KDDI aims to ship 7 mln 3G phones by end-FY02
(UPDATE: Adds byline, details)
By Eriko Amaha
TOKYO, March 11 (Reuters) - KDDI Corp , Japan's second-biggest mobile phone operator, said on Monday it aims to ship seven million handsets for its new CDMA2000 1x cellphone service in Japan by the end of the 2002 business year.
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KDDI said if it reached that goal, users of the new third-generation (3G) phones would account for 50 percent of its overall subscribers by the end of that year in March 2003.
``We aim to be number one in the industry with our 3G services,'' KDDI President Tadashi Onodera told a news conference.
Onodera said the new service, based on CDMA2000 1x technology developed and commercialised by U.S. firm Qualcomm Inc (NasdaqNM:QCOM - news), is scheduled to kick off on April 1 with five handset models.
The handsets, to be made by Sanyo Electric Co , Casio Computer Co Ltd and Toshiba Corp , will include one model with a tiny built-in camera that allows users to take still pictures and send them with emails.
In December, KDDI launched a video transmission service for mobile phone users nationwide that offers a maximum speed of 64 kbps (kilobits per second), using existing cdmaOne technology.
The transmission speed will be upgraded to 144 kbps in the CDMA 1x service, which also offers speedy Internet access, moving pictures and global positioning system (GPS) navigation.
The service is a much-needed step for KDDI to boost its revenue from data transmission, as its income from voice services is declining. The company, which has had slower subscription growth compared with its peers, also needs new services to attract more users.
Onodera said the shipment target should be attainable as KDDI currently ships about seven million handsets every year to replace existing phones and cater for new subscribers.
3G COMPETITION
With KDDI's CDMA 1x, the race to offer 3G will likely heat up in Japan. The largest mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo Inc , started 3G services in October 2001, although the service area has been limited to three major cities: Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya.
J-Phone Co Ltd, which is operated by Japan Telecom Co Ltd and Britain's Vodafone Group Plc (quote from Yahoo! UK & Ireland: VOD.L), plans to offer 3G services from June 30.
CDMA2000 1x will initially be accessible for about 70 percent of Japan's overall population, and KDDI hopes the wider service area will give it an edge over competitors.
KDDI plans to cover about 90 percent of the population by March 2003.
The CDMA technology, which is different from the W-CDMA (wideband code-division multiple access) standard adopted by DoCoMo and J-Phone, is also expected to benefit KDDI financially.
While W-CDMA requires hefty spending to build new networks for 3G services, the CDMA technology requires lower costs to boost transmission speeds simply by upgrading existing networks.
Still, KDDI's wireless unit au Corp had 12 million subscribers as of February, about 17 percent of Japan's mobile market, while DoCoMo captured the lion's share of 59 percent.
KDDI will meet the press and analysts on Friday, when the company is expected to announce mid-term business plans.
Shares of KDDI charged up 5.93 percent to 357,000 yen on Monday, outperforming the benchmark Nikkei average , which edged up 0.28 percent.
The stock has risen 47 percent this month on hopes the company may take action concerning its other mobile unit Tu-ka, whose subscription base has been eroded. |
