Vodafone Japan
Encyclopedia
, previously as Vodafone
K.K. (also known as Vodafone Japan) and J-PHONE, is the Japan
ese subsidiary company of mobile phone operator SoftBank
.
Masayoshi Son
is CEO and Representative Director.
(UMTS 3G
) network ("SoftBank 3G"). SoftBank's 3G network is compatible with UMTS and supports transparent global roaming for existing UMTS subscribers from other countries.
under the name Digital Phone (デジタルホン). J-PHONE Co., Ltd. (J-フォン) was formed in 1999 by the merging of Digital Phone Group (DPG, 3 local companies) and Digital TU-KA Group (DTG, 6 local companies, not to be confused with TU-KA). Japan Telecom owned a stake of 45.1%. In October 2001, the British mobile phone group Vodafone
increased its share to 66.7% of Japan Telecom and 69.7% of J-Phone. On October 1, 2003, the name of the company and the service brand was officially changed to Vodafone. The growth and success of the company during this period is due in large part to then president Bill Morrow.
On March 17, 2006, Vodafone Group announced it had agreed to sell its holding of Vodafone Japan (Vodafone K.K.) to SoftBank
for about 1.75 trillion Japanese yen (approximately US$ 15.1 Billion). On April 14, 2006, SoftBank
and Vodafone K. K. jointly announced, that the name of the company will be changed to a "new, easy-to-understand and familiar" company name and brand.
It was announced in a press conference on May 18, 2006 that the new name would be "SoftBank Mobile Corp.", effective October 1, 2006. SoftBank started the rebranding around June 14, 2006.
, SkyMelody ringtone download, the famous Sha-Mail
picture mail introduced on the basis of camera phones developed by SHARP
, the mobile multimedia data service J-Sky modeled after NTT DoCoMo
's i-mode
, and advanced Java services based on JSCL, modeled after NTT DoCoMo
's DoJa
based i-appli.
However, Vodafone lost customers: In January 2005, Vodafone Japan lost 58,700 customers, and in February 2005, Vodafone Japan lost 53,200 customers (while competitors NTT DoCoMo
gained 184,400 customers and au by KDDI gained 163,700 customers, and Willcom
gained 35,000).
Vodafone changed the name of its multimedia data services from J-Sky to Vodafone live!
, and used J-Sky's principles and technologies and business models to introduce Vodafone live! in Vodafone's other markets. Thus Vodafone live! has its origin in J-Phone's J-Sky.
Vodafone Japan recently changed the page description language of Vodafone live!
to the WAP
page description language.
While as of February 2005, DoCoMo's FOMA
3G service had attracted 10 million subscribers, and KDDI's 3G service had attracted over 17 million subscribers, Vodafone's 3G service only attracted 527,300 subscribers. Vodafone 3G failed to attract subscribers because Vodafone cut back investments in 3G services in Japan in 2002/3; handsets did not fully match needs and preferences of Japanese customers.
At the end February 2005, Vodafone Japan had 15.1 million customers, and by end of October 2005, the number of subscribers had fallen by 103,100 to 14.996 million, while during the same period NTT-DoCoMo had gained 1.65 million customers and KDDI/AU had gained 1.82 million customers.
At the end of February 2005, Vodafone live! had 12.907 million subscribers in Japan. By end of October 2005 the number of Vodafone live! subscribers had fallen by 138,000 to 12,769,600.
In March 2006, Vodafone began discussing the sale of the Vodafone Japan unit to SoftBank
.
Vodafone was unable to satisfy customers, as Japanese users tend to have preferences not seen in other markets. Handsets had user interfaces that differed too much from the Japanese interface, and did not have as many features as competing companies. This led to the loss of more customers and Vodafone's decision that the market was no longer profitable.
3G
: At the end of October 2005, NTT-DoCoMo had 17.6 million 3G customers, KDDI/AU had 19.8 million 3G customers, and Vodafone-Japan had 1.9 million 3G customers, i.e. Vodafone-Japan gained about 4.8% of Japan's 3G market.
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
K.K. (also known as Vodafone Japan) and J-PHONE, is the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese subsidiary company of mobile phone operator SoftBank
SoftBank
is a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
.
Masayoshi Son
Masayoshi Son
Masayoshi Son , born a Zainichi Korean and now a naturalized Japanese citizen, is a businessman and the founder and current chief executive officer of SoftBank Capital, and the chief executive officer of SoftBank Mobile...
is CEO and Representative Director.
Technology
SoftBank Mobile operates W-CDMAW-CDMA
W-CDMA , UMTS-FDD, UTRA-FDD, or IMT-2000 CDMA Direct Spread is an air interface standard found in 3G mobile telecommunications networks. It is the basis of Japan's NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service and the most-commonly used member of the UMTS family and sometimes used as a synonym for UMTS...
(UMTS 3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
) network ("SoftBank 3G"). SoftBank's 3G network is compatible with UMTS and supports transparent global roaming for existing UMTS subscribers from other countries.
History
The company was originally founded in 1981 as the mobile phone division of Japan TelecomJapan Telecom
SOFTBANK TELECOM Corp. Japanese: , previously as , is a Japanese telephone company of the SoftBank group. It is a load in JNR in the origin. It provides services to businesses and consumers in Japan. It provides long-distance telephone service, international call service, and direct connection...
under the name Digital Phone (デジタルホン). J-PHONE Co., Ltd. (J-フォン) was formed in 1999 by the merging of Digital Phone Group (DPG, 3 local companies) and Digital TU-KA Group (DTG, 6 local companies, not to be confused with TU-KA). Japan Telecom owned a stake of 45.1%. In October 2001, the British mobile phone group Vodafone
Vodafone
Vodafone Group Plc is a global telecommunications company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It is the world's largest mobile telecommunications company measured by revenues and the world's second-largest measured by subscribers , with around 341 million proportionate subscribers as of...
increased its share to 66.7% of Japan Telecom and 69.7% of J-Phone. On October 1, 2003, the name of the company and the service brand was officially changed to Vodafone. The growth and success of the company during this period is due in large part to then president Bill Morrow.
On March 17, 2006, Vodafone Group announced it had agreed to sell its holding of Vodafone Japan (Vodafone K.K.) to SoftBank
SoftBank
is a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
for about 1.75 trillion Japanese yen (approximately US$ 15.1 Billion). On April 14, 2006, SoftBank
SoftBank
is a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
and Vodafone K. K. jointly announced, that the name of the company will be changed to a "new, easy-to-understand and familiar" company name and brand.
It was announced in a press conference on May 18, 2006 that the new name would be "SoftBank Mobile Corp.", effective October 1, 2006. SoftBank started the rebranding around June 14, 2006.
Services and Market Analysis
J-PHONE grew steadily for a decade by continuously introducing new services and enhancements such as SkyWalker for PDCPersonal Digital Cellular
Personal Digital Cellular is a 2G mobile telecommunications standard developed and used exclusively in Japan.After a peak of nearly 80 million subscribers to PDC, it had 46 million subscribers in December 2005, and is slowly being phased out in favor of 3G technologies like W-CDMA and CDMA2000...
, SkyMelody ringtone download, the famous Sha-Mail
Sha-Mail
Sha-Mail is a kind of mailing service of J-Phone . This term is made from Sha, which is the front part of a Japanese word Shashin meaning photograph, and Mail...
picture mail introduced on the basis of camera phones developed by SHARP
Sharp Corporation
is a Japanese multinational corporation that designs and manufactures electronic products. Headquartered in Abeno-ku, Osaka, Japan, Sharp employs more than 55,580 people worldwide as of June 2011. The company was founded in September 1912 and takes its name from one of its founder's first...
, the mobile multimedia data service J-Sky modeled after NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo
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 compound word dokomo, meaning "everywhere" in Japanese. Docomo provides phone, video phone , i-mode , and mail services...
's i-mode
I-mode
NTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a mobile internet service popular in Japan. Unlike Wireless Application Protocol, i-mode encompasses a wider variety of internet standards, including web access, e-mail and the packet-switched network that delivers the data...
, and advanced Java services based on JSCL, modeled after NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo
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 compound word dokomo, meaning "everywhere" in Japanese. Docomo provides phone, video phone , i-mode , and mail services...
's DoJa
Doja
DoJa profile is a Java application environment specification for DoCoMo's i-mode mobile phone.DoJa is based on the Java ME CLDC API that is defined in the Java Community Process...
based i-appli.
However, Vodafone lost customers: In January 2005, Vodafone Japan lost 58,700 customers, and in February 2005, Vodafone Japan lost 53,200 customers (while competitors NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo
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 compound word dokomo, meaning "everywhere" in Japanese. Docomo provides phone, video phone , i-mode , and mail services...
gained 184,400 customers and au by KDDI gained 163,700 customers, and Willcom
Willcom
is a Japanese PHS operator, offering flat-rate wireless network data transmission and flat-rate voice calls for its subscribers.The company was formerly known as DDI Pocket, a subsidiary of KDDI. In 2004, the Carlyle Group acquired a majority stake from KDDI and changed the name of the company in...
gained 35,000).
Vodafone changed the name of its multimedia data services from J-Sky to Vodafone live!
Vodafone live!
Vodafone live! was the brand name for the multimedia portal service of mobile phone operator Vodafone, which was initially developed by Japan's J-Phone under the J-Sky brand...
, and used J-Sky's principles and technologies and business models to introduce Vodafone live! in Vodafone's other markets. Thus Vodafone live! has its origin in J-Phone's J-Sky.
Vodafone Japan recently changed the page description language of Vodafone live!
Vodafone live!
Vodafone live! was the brand name for the multimedia portal service of mobile phone operator Vodafone, which was initially developed by Japan's J-Phone under the J-Sky brand...
to the WAP
Wireless Application Protocol
Wireless Application Protocol is a technical standard for accessing information over a mobile wireless network.A WAP browser is a web browser for mobile devices such as mobile phones that uses the protocol.Before the introduction of WAP, mobile service providers had limited opportunities to offer...
page description language.
While as of February 2005, DoCoMo's FOMA
Foma
Foma may refer to:* FOMA , a Japanese mobile telecommunications service* Sergei Fomenko, nicknamed "Foma", Ukrainian musician...
3G service had attracted 10 million subscribers, and KDDI's 3G service had attracted over 17 million subscribers, Vodafone's 3G service only attracted 527,300 subscribers. Vodafone 3G failed to attract subscribers because Vodafone cut back investments in 3G services in Japan in 2002/3; handsets did not fully match needs and preferences of Japanese customers.
At the end February 2005, Vodafone Japan had 15.1 million customers, and by end of October 2005, the number of subscribers had fallen by 103,100 to 14.996 million, while during the same period NTT-DoCoMo had gained 1.65 million customers and KDDI/AU had gained 1.82 million customers.
At the end of February 2005, Vodafone live! had 12.907 million subscribers in Japan. By end of October 2005 the number of Vodafone live! subscribers had fallen by 138,000 to 12,769,600.
In March 2006, Vodafone began discussing the sale of the Vodafone Japan unit to SoftBank
SoftBank
is a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
.
Vodafone was unable to satisfy customers, as Japanese users tend to have preferences not seen in other markets. Handsets had user interfaces that differed too much from the Japanese interface, and did not have as many features as competing companies. This led to the loss of more customers and Vodafone's decision that the market was no longer profitable.
3G
3G
3G or 3rd generation mobile telecommunications is a generation of standards for mobile phones and mobile telecommunication services fulfilling the International Mobile Telecommunications-2000 specifications by the International Telecommunication Union...
: At the end of October 2005, NTT-DoCoMo had 17.6 million 3G customers, KDDI/AU had 19.8 million 3G customers, and Vodafone-Japan had 1.9 million 3G customers, i.e. Vodafone-Japan gained about 4.8% of Japan's 3G market.
Timeline
- 1984-10: JAPAN TELECOM was founded.
- 1986-08: JAPAN TELECOM launches leased circuit services
- 1986-12: RAILWAY TELECOMMUNICATION established
- 1989-05: RAILWAY TELECOMMUNICATION merges with JAPAN TELECOM
- 1991-07: Tokyo Digital Phone established
- 1994-04: J-Phone starts PDC cellular service in the 1.5 GHzGHZGHZ or GHz may refer to:# Gigahertz .# Greenberger-Horne-Zeilinger state — a quantum entanglement of three particles.# Galactic Habitable Zone — the region of a galaxy that is favorable to the formation of life....
band, 10 MHz bandwidth - 1997-11: J-Phone launches SkyWalker SMS service designed by Aldiscon and Ericsson for PDC
- 1998-11: J-Phone launches SkyMelody ringtone download service
- 1999-12: J-Phone launches J-Sky wireless Internet service ten months after NTT DoCoMo's i-mode, which was launched in February 1999.
- 2000-11: J-Phone launches Sha-Mail (写メール) picture messaging service using the world's first camera phones developed by SHARP
- 2001-06: J-Phone launches Java service with JSCL library
- 2002-12: J-Phone launches W-CDMA 3G service the first time
- 2002-08: Company name was changed to JAPAN TELECOM HOLDINGS.The fixed-line telecommunications business was also separated to found a new JAPAN TELECOM.
- 2003-10: J-Phone company name is changed to Vodafone K.K., and J-Sky name is changed to Vodafone live!. Vodafone launches a Japan-nationwide BeckhamDavid BeckhamDavid Robert Joseph Beckham, OBE is an English footballer who plays midfield for Los Angeles Galaxy in Major League Soccer, having previously played for Manchester United, Preston North End, Real Madrid, and A.C...
campaign - 2003-12: Company name was changed to Vodafone Holdings K.K.
- 2004-10: Vodafone K.K. merges with Vodafone Holdings K.K. and company name is changed to Vodafone K.K.
- 2004-10: Vodafone relaunches the 3G services in Japan a second time offering mobile phone handsets designed primarily for the European markets
- 2005 Summer: Vodafone changes management and relaunches 3G services in Japan a third time
- 2006-03-17: Vodafone officially announced it had agreed to sell Vodafone Japan (Vodafone KK) to SoftBank for a total of 1.75 trillion Japanese yen (approx US$ 15.1 Billion) in one of the largest M&A transactions in Japan to date
- 2006-04-14: SoftBankSoftBankis a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
and Vodafone K. K. jointly announced, that the name of the company will be changed to a "new, easy-to-understand and familiar" company name and brand. Masayoshi SonMasayoshi SonMasayoshi Son , born a Zainichi Korean and now a naturalized Japanese citizen, is a businessman and the founder and current chief executive officer of SoftBank Capital, and the chief executive officer of SoftBank Mobile...
became CEO and Representative Director of Vodafone K. K. - 2006-05-01: Headquarters moved from Atago Hills to Shiodome to integrate operations with other SoftBank group companies
- 2006-05-18: SoftBankSoftBankis a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
announced that the name of the company will be changed to "SoftBank Mobile Corp." effective October 1, 2006 - 2006-06-16: SoftBankSoftBankis a Japanese telecommunications and internet corporation, with operations in broadband, fixed-line telecommunications, e-Commerce, Internet, broadmedia, technology services, finance, media and marketing, and other businesses....
started rebranding "Vodafone" to "SoftBank." - 2006-10-01: Vodafone Japan company name is changed "SoftBank Mobile Corp."
- 2008-06-02: SoftBank Mobile releases iPhoneIPhoneThe iPhone is a line of Internet and multimedia-enabled smartphones marketed by Apple Inc. The first iPhone was unveiled by Steve Jobs, then CEO of Apple, on January 9, 2007, and released on June 29, 2007...
in Japan beating NTT DoCoMoNTT DoCoMois 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 compound word dokomo, meaning "everywhere" in Japanese. Docomo provides phone, video phone , i-mode , and mail services... - 2008-12-09: SoftBank Mobile joins Open Handset AllianceOpen Handset AllianceThe Open Handset Alliance is a consortium of 84 firms to develop open standards for mobile devices. Member firms include Google, HTC, Sony, Dell, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, Texas Instruments, Samsung Electronics, LG Electronics, T-Mobile, Nvidia, and Wind River Systems.-History:The OHA was...
http://www.openhandsetalliance.com/press_120908.html. - 2009-05-15: SoftBank Mobile joins TransferJetTransferJetTransferJet is a new type of close proximity wireless transfer technology initially demonstrated publicly in early 2008. By touching two electronic devices, TransferJet allows high speed exchange of data...
Consortiumhttp://www.transferjet.org/en/.