Released on = August 9, 2006, 2:42 am

Press Release Author = InfoCom GmbH

Industry = Telecommunications

Press Release Summary = NTT DoCoMo continues to face challenges as the Japanese
mobile market introduces number portability in Nov. 2006 and the threat of new
competitors as 2 new mobile operatrors IPMobile and eMobile are scheduled to start
operations in 2007.

Press Release Body = Stuttgart, Germany - 9th August 2006 - Japan's mobile market is
starting to face new challenges. Although, InfoCom's Teleseeq Database projects that
the Japanese mobile market will grow at 4% per year in terms of net revenues for the
next six years, a tough outlook for the market leader NTT DoCoMo is indicated as it
faces challenges from regulation and new competition.

Japanese alternative mobile carriers' strong performance has helped in the decrease
of NTT DoCoMo's majority market share in terms of net revenues from 61% in 2002 to
53% in 2005 (see Fig. 1). Liberalisation and new technologies have helped mobile
operators such as KDDI, Softbank (which acquired Vodafone K.K. in early 2006), Astel
and Willcom to penetrate the mobile market, attracting new customers through
attractive pricing, 3G and other innovative mobile data services. In terms of
competition among PHS service providers, NTT DoCoMo and Astel have opted to stop
accepting new subscribers to their PHS service as both companies continue to
experience disappointing subscriber figures with Astel announcing to concentrate on
WiMax services. Willcom, on the other hand, has experienced growth in 1Q06 with
about 3.8 m subscribers up from the 3.0 m it had in the beginning of 2005,
attracting users mainly from its competitive pricing.

Softbank will figure more prominently in the future as it leverages its strength in
data-communications services, which the company hopes will transfer well into mobile
data services to attract more customers as well as competing directly with NTT to
provide triple or quadruple play services. NTT DoCoMo will also face more
competition in the future as the regulator implements Mobile Number Portability in
November 2006 and the entrance of new competitors such as IP Mobile and eMobile, who
will start offering their own mobile services to an already saturated Japanese
market in 2007.

Please visit http://www.infocom-de.com/pressarchives/press_090806.html to see the
graph.
Title: Mobile market share based on revenues

About InfoCom
InfoCom is a market research and consultancy company with almost 20 years experience
providing strategic analyses and planning assistance to stakeholders in the
telecommunications, IT and multimedia industries. InfoCom's independent and
fact-based analyses highlight trends and opportunities, supporting decision makers
to understand market dynamics in order to improve their competitive advantage.
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