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To: Cooters who wrote (112461)	2/8/2002 8:22:14 AM
From: Cooters	Respond to of 152472

INTERVIEW-J-Phone says 3G deployment on track By Eriko Amaha TOKYO, Feb 8 (Reuters) - J-Phone Co Ltd, Japan's number three mobile operator, said on Friday its plan to roll out ultra-fast third-generation (3G) mobile services was on track and that it aimed to provide nationwide coverage by the end of 2004. J-Phone -- operated by third-ranked Japanese telecoms firm Japan Telecom Co Ltd and its parent, Britain's Vodafone Group Plc -- plans to launch 3G services on June 30 and expand service areas to major cities by October. "By the end of 2004, our networks should be able to cover more than 90 percent of the population," J-Phone President Darryl Green told Reuters in an interview. NTT DoCoMo Inc, J-Phone's rival, launched 3G services in October, but customers have been slow to sign up, fuelling concerns about the development of the 3G market in Japan. Green, a former executive at AT&T Corp, said J-Phone expected the total number of new mobile phone users in Japan in calendar 2002 to be between five and six million. The rate of new subscribers has been slowing. The market grew just 0.6 percent month-on-month to 67.5 million in January, suggesting it is nearing saturation. J-Phone had 11.75 million of those users, snaring 142,100 new subscribers. Many were drawn by its popular camera-equipped handsets. Green said J-Phone was reviewing its distribution strategy in a bid to counter slowing growth in the mobile market and improve cost performance. He said J-Phone would try to target users in a more discriminating way, even if that meant bringing out few new handset models. "It used to be a shot-gun approach," he said. "We will study the market before rolling out new models." Mobile operators have ploughed money into seducing new users through subsidised handsets and higher sales commissions. Those marketing costs have now become a key issue for mobile operators as the market slows. J-Phone announced last month that it would halve capital spending for the year to March to 350 billion yen ($2.62 billion). Green declined to give a figure for capital investment in the year beginning in April. To expand its subscriber base, Green said J-Phone would target age groups where penetration remains relatively low. "Mobile phone penetration among people in their 50s, 60s and 70s is low, as it is for those who are younger than 15 years old," he said. Shares in Japan Telecom rose 2.13 percent to 383,000 yen on Friday, outperforming the benchmark Nikkei that edged up 1.07 percent. ($1-133.71 Yen) 06:52 02-08-02