Top Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo returned to profit in the first quarter, posting 212.5 billion yen (US$1.8 billion) in net revenue, up from 116.2 billion yen in losses for the same period a year earlier. “These are the results of management placing greater importance on profit and pursuing increased efficiency,” president Keiji Tachikawa told reporters. DoCoMo said 86% of its subscribers – or 37.8 million – use its interactive i-Mode handsets.
Pre-tax profit hit a record 1.04 trillion yen on 9.1% growth on the back of a 3.2% increase in revenue to 4.81 trillion yen.
Losses on investments in affiliates such as Hutchison 3G UK nearly halved to 324.2 billion yen. “Unfortunately not only the overseas companies we invested in but also the whole market is in a bad state after the bursting of the telecoms bubble,” said Tachikawa.
“I think Asia may be good [to invest in] but this idea hasn’t seen progress because of SARS.”
DoCoMo, which forecasted a net profit of 618 billion yen for the year to March 2004, said it plans to expand its FOMA 3G service coverage in a bid to grab 1.46 million subscribers. “The popularisation and expansion of FOMA is the most important challenge facing DoCoMo in the fiscal year ending March 2004, requiring company-wide effort,” Tachikawa said.
Meanwhile, rival KDDI said its profits quadrupled to 57.4 billion yen despite a 1.7% dip in revenue to 2.79 trillion yen. It forecasted 71 billion yen in profit for the year through March 2004, and said it will invest 120 billion yen over five years to build a nationwide video network and other infrastructure. “This financial year is a preparation phase,” said president Tadashi Onodera.
The operator plans to offer broadcasting services over fibre-optic connections as early as October, according to local reports. The Nihon Keizai Shimbun and Jiji Press both reported that KDDI intends to be the first major Japanese telecom to register with the Telecom Ministry to act as a cable broadcaster.
KDDI, whose 3G service had 6.81 million subscribers at the end the quarter, hopes the video service will rake in 250 billion yen per year by 2008. It also plans to use the fibre-optic network to launch IP telephony service later this year.
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