Businessweek

NTT DOCOMO, INC. operates as a mobile telecommunications carrier company. The company provides mobile telephone services over its LTE (Long Term Evolution) and W-CDMA networks. The company has approximately 60,129 thousand subscribers. It conducts business together with 127 subsidiaries and 32 affiliates. Mobile Services The company offers voice, data, and other value-added services through Xi (LTE) and FOMA (W-CDMA) services. It provides data services for tablets and mobile data cards through Xi service, and offers voice and data service for smartphones. Voice Services The company offers voice services and a range of value-added service options, such as a voice mail service. Most subscribers subscribe on a postpaid basis. Data Communication Services for Handsets The company launched 34 smartphones, as of March 31, 2012. It focuses on offering various features and value-added services that it has developed through i-mode service. ISP: sp-mode and i-mode In 2010, the company began offering ‘sp-mode’ ISP service for smartphones. Through this service, users can connect to the Internet, access portals and DOCOMO-operated content markets, use email with a DOCOMO address (@docomo.ne.jp), use content payment services, and access public wireless LANs. Portal: dmenu and iMenu The iMenu for feature phones is the portal that appears when the device connects to i-mode. In November 2011, the company launched the dmenu portal for smartphones. The dmenu portal is a way for smartphone users to find fun and useful services and content. DOCOMO-operated content market: dmarket The company offers content and applications to smartphone and feature phone users through dmarket. At dmarket, the company sells content and applications which are specially selected for Japanese users, through various genres of stores (Video, Music and Book stores) and introduce users to Google Play applications. Additionally, as of March 31, 2012, the company has been working to improve usability for smartphone users by offering services on smartphones those are popular on i-mode, including: i-channel: A service that automatically displays the latest information such as news, weather, entertainment, sports, and horoscopes. i-concier: A service that supports users’ daily lives according to their lifestyle. An auto-GPS function delivers information useful for daily life in accordance with the time and user’s location. Since March 2012, this service is used on smartphones. Additionally, the company is in the process of working to develop the following new value-added services for smartphones: Voice agent: The company offers the ‘Shabette Concier’ voice agent application, which allows users to use voice recognition to perform searches and operate their smart phones. Memory Collection: The company offers on a trial basis in December 2011 its cloud-based ‘Memory Collection’ service, which automatically sorts photos and videos stored on smartphones. Translation phone: The company has developed a translation phone service for real-time interpretation by utilizing the call audio and executing advanced processing, such as voice recognition, translation, and voice synthesis over the DOCOMO network, thereby performing high-speed processing without relying on the processing capability of the mobile handset. Data Communication Services for PCs and other devices The company offers a series of data communication services for PCs, tablets and other devices. As of March 31, 2012, it expanded the availability of devices that support data communications services. In addition to sales of USB-type, Express card-type, and Wi-Fi routers, the PlayStationVita portable game console from Sony Computer Entertainment Inc. comes equipped with UIM card. The company also offers an ISP service called ‘mopera U,’ which provides an Internet connection for data communication services. In addition to providing access to the Internet by connecting a docomo data communications device and PC, the ‘mopera U’ service offers an Internet connection and mail service, from mobile to broadband, under a single contract. The company offers the comm