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NTT DoCoMo
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is the predominant mobile phone operator in Japan. The name is officially an abbreviation of the phrase, "do communications over the mobile network", and is also from a phrase dokodemo, meaning "everywhere" in Japanese. docomo provides phone, video phone (FOMA and Some PHS), i-mode (internet), and mail (i-mode mail, Short Mail, and SMS) services.
Docomo was spun off from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in August 1991 to take over the mobile cellular operations.
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Encyclopedia
is the predominant mobile phone operator in Japan. The name is officially an abbreviation of the phrase, "do communications over the mobile network", and is also from a phrase dokodemo, meaning "everywhere" in Japanese. docomo provides phone, video phone (FOMA and Some PHS), i-mode (internet), and mail (i-mode mail, Short Mail, and SMS) services.
Docomo was spun off from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in August 1991 to take over the mobile cellular operations. docomo provides 2G (mova) PDC cellular services in 800 MHz and 1.5 GHz bands (total 34 MHz bandwidth), and 3G FOMA W-CDMA services in the 2 GHz (UMTS2100) and 800 MHz(UMTS800(Band VI)) and 1800 MHz(UMTS1800(Band IX)) bands. Its businesses also include PHS (Paldio), paging, and satellite. docomo ended PHS service on January 7, 2008.
Customers
NTT docomo is a subsidiary of Japan's incumbent telephone operator NTT. The majority of NTT docomo's shares are owned by NTT (which is 33.71% government-owned). While some NTT shares are publicly traded, control of the company by Japanese interests (Government and civilian) is guaranteed by the number of shares available to buyers. It provides wireless voice and data communications to many subscribers in Japan. NTT docomo is the creator of W-CDMA technology as well as mobile i-mode service.
NTT docomo has more than 53 million customers (as of March 2008), which is more than half of Japan's cellular market. The company provides a wide variety of mobile multimedia services. These include i-mode which provides e-mail and internet access to over 50 million subscribers, and FOMA, launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA.
In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe and North America, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific and Europe. NTT docomo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges.
On April 19, 2008, it was announced that Ryuji Yamada, the current co-president of NTT docomo, will be promoted as the president of NTT DoCoMo in June 2008. Masao Nakamura will stay in NTT docomo as a director and also the senior adviser. Since October 2006, when the introduction to the service which allows the user to carry their original phone number with a new provider was made, NTT docomo has lost many users to KDDI and SoftBank. This promotion was made in order to get more users for NTT docomo.
R&D
While most mobile operators globally do not perform any significant R&D and rely on equipment suppliers for the development and supply of new communication equipment, NTT docomo continues the NTT tradition of very extensive R&D efforts. It was mainly DoCoMo's strong R&D investments which allowed docomo to introduce 3G communications and i-mode data services long before such services were introduced anywhere else in the world.
On October 2007, the prototype Wellness mobile phone of Japan's NTT docomo Inc. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. was launched at the CEATEC. It checks health with a motion sensor that detects body movement and measures calories, and includes a breathalyzer.
On January 24, 2008, NTT docomo announced that they made connections with Google. By doing this, all models after the FOMA904i models are able to view YouTube videos.
Mascot
The company's mascot is Docomodake, a mushroom, which is quite a celebrity in Japan. He even is the hero of a Nintendo DS video game, Docomodake DS, and has a wide variety of merchandising such as cell phone straps, keychains, and plush dolls. As one type of advertising method, there are many types of Docomodakes such as mother and father, which symbolizes the plans that NTT docomo offers. The image shown on the right are mainly the normal Docomodakes, with a few musume (daughter) Docomodakes and jiji (grandpa) Docomodakes.
Docomo's investments outside Japan
NTT docomo has a wide range of foreign investments. However, NTT docomo was not successful in investing in foreign carriers. Docomo had invested very large multi-billion dollar amounts in KPN, Hutchison Telecom (included 3, Hutch, etc.), KTF, AT&T Wireless, and had to write-off or sell all these investments in foreign carriers. As a result, docomo booked a total of about US$ 10 billion in losses, while during the same time docomo's Japan operations were profitable.
In December 2007, NTT docomo and KT Freetel have jointly invested 200 million USD for a total of 33% stake in U Mobile Malaysia. The announcement is arguably one of the most important mobile communications deal in Malaysia to date as it has the tremendous potential to shift the business model of the local telecommunication industry from a coverage dominated landscape to a products and content driven one through the influx of knowledge and expertise from both NTT docomo and KT Freetel.
In November 2008 NTT docomo bought a 26% stake in Tata Teleservices for 2.7 billion USD, the number 6 in Indian telecom industry and owned by the Tata group. India is the world's fastest-growing cellular market, adding as many as 9 million new customers a month. DoCoMo believes that there's plenty more room to grow in India. Tata Teleservices (which sells under the brand Tata IndiCom) has 29 million of the 300 million subscribers.
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