KDDI Corp. continued to score the largest net increase in subscriptions among mobile phone operators in Japan in 2007, amid the cumulative number of cellphone contracts topping 100 million for the first time, an industry body said Thursday.

The number of new subscribers to KDDI''s ''''au'''' cellphone service exceeded that of cancellations by some 2,329,200, the Telecommunications Carriers Association said.

Softbank Mobile Corp. trailed KDDI with a net increase of 2,115,800, while NTT DoCoMo Inc., the largest of the domestic cellphone operators, ranked third at 936,700.

Emobile Ltd., which entered the market in March 2007, secured a net gain of 205,900 subscribers.

The number of cellphone service contracts totaled a little more than 100.52 million at the end of December.

KDDI bested other mobile phone operators in gaining new subscribers for the second year in a row as it benefited the most from the number portability system, which was introduced in October 2006, allowing cellphone users to switch service providers while retaining their phone numbers.

On a monthly basis, however, Softbank Mobile has retained the top spot for the eighth consecutive month since last May on the back of an attractive phone bill plan.


Source: Kyodo World Service

Tags:KDDI | NTT