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KDDI adds most mobile users for 3rd month in Sept
Friday October 7, 3:39 PM

http://asia.news.yahoo.com/051007/3/28ix9.html

TOKYO, Oct 7 (Reuters) - Japanese telecoms operator KDDI Corp.'s main mobile unit gained more new users on a net basis for the third straight month in September than dominant NTT DoCoMo Inc. , an industry group said on Friday.

DoCoMo, however, maintained a lead in adding new third-generation (3G) users.

Vodafone K.K., the No.3 Japanese mobile operator owned by Britain's Vodafone Group Plc , posted a small increase in customers for the fourth straight month after five months of losses, according to the Telecommunications Carriers Association, which compiles data reported by the companies.

KDDI's main au mobile unit added 165,100 new customers in September and users of its high-speed 3G service totalled 19.55 million, or 94.4 percent of its customer base.

DoCoMo followed with 124,800 net new customers. It added nearly 900,000 3G users in September, many of whom had switched from its older mobile services. It ended the month with about 34 percent of its customers on 3G.

Vodafone K.K. gained 3,300 new customers and finished the month with almost 15 million subscribers.

Tu-Ka, a former wholly owned KDDI mobile subsidiary absorbed by the parent on Oct. 1, added 1,300 subscribers, snapping a declining streak stretching back to February.

Net customer growth is calculated by subtracting customers who left a service from the absolute number of new subscribers.

The industry had a total 89.1 million subscribers in September, of which 42.7 percent were on 3G services.

Details were as follows:
NEW SUBSCRIBERS
OPERATOR JULY AUGUST SEPT TOTAL
DoCoMo 229,800 119,900 124,800 49,904,200
au (KDDI) 230,500 185,300 165,100 20,703,600
Tu-Ka (KDDI) -17,800 -12,700 1,300 3,527,500
Vodafone 18,000 3,600 3,300 14,991,500
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TOTAL 460,400 296,300 294,500 89,126,800
NEW USERS OF THIRD-GENERATION SERVICES
OPERATOR JULY AUGUST SEPT TOTAL
DoCoMo 1,196,400 971,700 891,800 16,770,100
au (KDDI) 312,000 262,400 249,700 19,547,400
Vodafone 130,100 160,600 163,500 1,753,600
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TOTAL 1,638,500 1,394,700 1,305,000 38,071,100
Note: Numbers are rounded. Data provided by the
Telecommunications Carriers Association