NTT Docomo CEO Kazuhiro Yoshizawa recently shared the telecom operator’s plans to expand the LTE network in Japan.
The Japanese telecom operator has made investment in expanding the LTE network and capital expenditure (Capex) increased slightly by ¥4 billion to ¥97.1 billion in the first quarter of fiscal 2016.
“Although this was year-on-year increase, but compared to our initial plan, the progress of capital expenditures was slightly behind the plan,” said Kazuhiro Yoshizawa.
The number of LTE base stations at the end of June this year was 143,500 including 30,900 premium 4G base stations. NTT Docomo will be expanding its premium 4G base stations to 1,203 cities across Japan.
NTT Docomo launched 275 megabit per second broadband service. NTT Docomo is also investing in carrier aggregation technology for combining new spectrum with 3.5 gigahertz. The aim of NTT Docomo is to launch 377 megabit per second broadband service. NTT Docomo will expand carrier aggregation to cover 49 cities throughout Japan.
“During this fiscal year 2016 we plan to launch services that exceed 500 megabit per second and will be using MIMO. Towards 2020, we’ll be enhancing the network foundation for launching 5G,” said Kazuhiro Yoshizawa.
Meanwhile, net income of NTT Docomo increased by ¥38.1 billion to ¥206.9 billion in Q1 fiscal 2016.
Operating revenues of NTT Docomo increased 3 percent to ¥1.1087 trillion. Operating income of NTT Docomo increased by 27.1 percent to ¥299.3 billion.
Telecommunications business increased 27.3 percent to ¥270.4 billion, while Smart-Life business revenue increased 25.7 percent and its operating income reached ¥28.9 billion.
NTT Docomo said the number of mobile subscriptions reached 71.61 million, showing an increase of 6 percent. The number of smartphone and tablet users increased 13 percent to 33.44 million.
Voice ARPU of NTT Docomo was ¥1,240, up ¥10 compared to the previous quarter. Data ARPU of NTT Docomo was ¥2,960, up ¥20 compared to the fourth quarter.
