Japan's KDDI boosts new mobile users in December
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TOKYO, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Japan's second-largest telecommunications carrier DDI Corp <9433.T>, known as KDDI, said on Friday that it added 190,000 net new mobile phone subscribers in December, several times its recent pace of monthly growth.
KDDI President Yusai Okuyama told Reuters that newly introduced student discount rates were taking hold and boosting subscriber growth, which stood at 70,700 in November, 10,100 in October and 15,200 in September.
"The cell phone business has hit bottom," Okuyama said in an interview on the sidelines of a meeting of business leaders, "now we want to see this trend take hold."
A KDDI spokesman confirmed that net mobile phone subscriber growth in December would be around 190,000, and that the data would be released officially next week.
KDDI shares have rallied 21 percent from a 20-month low set in late November and pulled out of a long-term downtrend after its cell phone subscriber numbers recovered in November.
Many analysts rate KDDI, which closed up 1.45 percent on Friday at 559,000 yen ($4,794), as undervalued and a buy.
"For the next three months or so, I'd say 800,000 yen will be an easy level to reach," said Merrill Lynch analyst Yasumasa Goda, who has set a 12-month price objective of 1.4 million yen.
KDDI had been struggling to boost its wireless subscriber numbers, which slipped as it consolidated its cellular businesses under a single brand called "au" when it merged in October with long-distance carrier KDD and mobile phone operator IDO.
KDDI, whose main services right now are long-distance calling, cellular, and Internet services, has been positioning itself to become a full service telecoms provider.
It will enter the local calling market in May and will begin high-speed digital subscriber line services (DSL) this spring.
"We are seeing the beginning of a recovery," Okuyama said, "the challenge is to gain new customers."
KDDI said last week that it had registered five million users for its mobile Internet service, EZWeb, which competes with number one wireless carrier NTT DoCoMo Inc's <9437.T> i-mode service, which boasts nearly 17 million users.
KDDI had been late introducing Internet-enabled mobile handsets with colour screens, the latest trend in Japan's booming wireless web industry.
Asked whether KDDI would consider tying up with a carrier outside Japan given recent interest shown by foreign carriers in increasing or taking new stakes in rival carrier Japan Telecom Co Ltd <9434.T>, Okuyama said KDDI would consider any international deals more carefully.
"There is the possibility that we may tie up with a partner that doesn't use the CDMA (cross division multiple access) standard," he said. This would open up the possibility of partnering with carriers overseas using a competing standard.
05:15 01-05-01 |
