Vodafone up in Japan

December 8, 2005 - source: BWCS

Better news for Vodafone emerged today from Japan, where its local subsidiary Vodafone KK reported record growth in subscriber numbers for November. By the end of last month the company could report that it had just over 15 million customers, adding just over 57,000 during the month.

Since the summer Vodafone has been averaging around 4,500 new customers a month, so the latest figures mark a substantial upturn. However, the company admitted that only around 2 million of its customers are using 3G phones, the other 13 million are on second generation networks. During November its 3G customer base grew by 186,000 new subscribers its highest monthly addition since March of this year when it added over 200,000 new 3G customers.

In contrast its 2G customer numbers dropped by 129,000 during the month. The company also reported that it had managed to garner some 39,900 new Vodafone live! subscribers during November which brought the total to 12,809,500. In fact the growth reversed the recent trend of falling customer numbers for Vodafone live! in Japan.