DoCoMo triples profit and aims for 10.6m FOMA users by next March

May 10, 2004

NTT DoCoMo said Friday that its group net profits more than tripled to a record-high 650.01 billion yen in the fiscal year ending in March. The increased profits were due to reduced losses on its overseas investments and rapid growth on its high speed 3G mobile phone service FOMA. (£1 = 189.87 yen)

DoCoMo had 3.05 million FOMA users at the end of March compared to 330,000 subscribers a year earlier. The increase is credited to its improving service coverage and the introduction of the i900 series 3G handsets. Rival KDDI had around 13.51 million subscribers for its 3G 'au' service at the end of March, accounting for 80% of its customer base.

The average monthly revenue per user, or ARPU, for FOMA was 10,280 yen, up from 7,740 yen in the previous year.

The increased price competition in Japanese had cut into DoCoMo's revenue, and it expects the trend to continue in the year ahead. Starting from June 1, DoCoMo will follow in the footsteps of KDDI by offering unlimited mobile internet on its FOMA service for a monthly flat fee of 3,900 yen, undercutting its rival by 300 yen.

DoCoMo expects its FOMA subscribers to continue expanding this fiscal year and is aiming to more than triple its FOMA subscriber base to 10.6 million by the end of next March.