DoCoMo aims for 25 million 3G users in 2007

June 23, 2004

NTT DoCoMo said its aims to have 25 million subscribers to its 3G FOMA mobile phone service by the end of March 2007. The company, Japan's biggest mobile operator, has so far signed up around 4 million FOMA users since it started commercial services in October 2001.

Newly appointed President Masao Nakamura is targeting the company's mobile phone subscriber base to expand from its current 46.24 million subscribers to 50 million by March 2007, half of which would be 3G users.

DoCoMo announced plans for unlimited data transfer on its FOMA service for 3,900 yen a month to attract more users and help it catch up with rival KDDI, which had 14.36 million 3G subscribers at the end of May. (£1 = 190.22 yen)

The company also aims to cut the price of an average 3G handset by about 10,000 yen said DoCoMo spokesman Noritaka Akiyama. The downside is that the less expensive handsets would have fewer functions than current models, which retails for around 30,000 yen. DoCoMo has to yet decide what functions would be dropped from the cheaper handsets or how many models they plan to release.