3G Revenues Continue To Fall At DoCoMo

date: August 2, 2002 - source: BWCS

NTT DoCoMo has recorded another quarterly fall in average revenues per user for its 3G service FOMA. The company reported a 10.8% decline in FOMA’s APRU in the three months to 30 June to Yen7,800. This figure also represented a 25% decrease on the ARPU reported for FOMA’s first quarter of operations running from October to December 2001.

In addition, for the first time 3G ARPU has fallen below average voice and data revenues from DoCoMo’s 2G network. Aggregate ARPU from the PDC network and i-mode data services was Yen8,150 in the quarter ended 30 June. PDC revenues have been boosted by the introduction of DoCoMo’s photo-messaging service i-shot, which was launched in May.

Ironically the constant enhancements to 2.5G services in Japan are probably one of the key reasons why subscribers are reluctant to move to 3G services. FOMA is currently viewed as a costly alternative to PDC or PHS services and one that offers inferior coverage. DoCoMo signed up just 2,200 subscribers to FOMA during June, taking its 3G subscriber base to 114,500. In contrast, KDDI’s cdma2000 1X network attracted 455,600 customers, increasing its 3G customer total to 1.15 million.

While it is not unusual for average subscriber revenues to fall in the first few months of a new service launch, as high revenue first adopters are diluted by mainstream subscribers, this cannot be said to be the case with FOMA. With such a slow-growing subscriber base a significant fall in APRU indicates that there is something more fundamentally wrong with the service offering. DoCoMo will be hoping that increased service coverage and the launch of dual-mode handsets will resolve FOMA’s problems. Meanwhile, European operators preparing to launch 3G will take little solace from its performance to date.

Top Sellers at our online store

1.	NEC e606 on 3
2.	Orange Nokia 7250i
3.	O2 Samsung A800
4.	NEC e808 on 3
5.	Motorola A920 on 3

last updated: January 12, 2004

Visit our online store, click here

3 phones

3G Motorola A920
Available Now! Superb full colour touch- sensitive screen with a built-in digital camera for Video Calling.
Buy now from Free

M-Profits: Making Money from 3G Services
ISBN: 0470847751

This book discusses 3G services from the view of what is needed for the service to provide value to the user, what is the value proposition for the user, how will money be made out of delivering the service, and discussions on how revenue sharing propositions might work to benefit content providers and network operators. 3G operators should take note of this highly recommended book.

buy it UK | USA

3G Books to Read!

top