Japan’s largest mobile operator by subscribers, NTT DoCoMo, today reported that net income for its full-year ended 31 March 2009 dropped 4% to JPY471.9 billion (USD4.93 billion), from JPY491.2 billion in FY2007/08. The company’s performance fell short of analysts’ expectations of net income of JPY499.5 billion in a poll conducted by Dow Jones Newswires. DoCoMo’s full-year revenues for the period under review amounted to JPY4.45 trillion, compared to JPY4.71 trillion in the previous financial year. Nonetheless, the company said it plans to increase its annual dividend to JPY5,200 per share, having kept it at JPY4,800 for the current fiscal year.

In a separate development, DoCoMo has selected South Korean vendor LG Electronics to provide it with 4G data devices with built-in Long Term Evolution (LTE) chips from 2010. LG, the country’s second largest electronics manufacturer by revenues behind Samsung Electronics, will supply DoCoMo with devices with integral modems capable of delivering ultra high speed internet access on the move.

Source:telegeography