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NTT DOCOMO reports 3.4% decrease in operating revenues in 1Q14 [TeleGeography CommsUpdate](TeleGeography CommsUpdate Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Japanese cellco NTT DOCOMO has published its results for the three months ended 30 June 2014 (1Q FY2014), reporting a 3.4% decrease in operating revenues to JPY1.075 trillion (USD10.56 billion), down from JPY1.114 trillion reported in end-June 2013. Operating income also decreased, by 15.3%, to JPY209.6 billion year-on-year, mainly due to the impact of discount programmes and a decrease in the number of handsets sold, partially offset by an increase in expenses linked with other operating revenues. As a result, the company's net profit decreased to JPY136.4 billion, down 13.7% from JPY158.0 billion reported in in FY2012. Further, NTT DOCOMO's EBITDA reached JPY386.7 billion, down from JPY420.4 billion reported in June 2013. The company forecasts that it will return to growth in Q2 FY2014 (ending 31 September 2014), with its operating revenues projected to amount to JPY4.59 trillion by the end of the financial year by that date, an increase of 2.9%, with estimated net profit of JPY480 billion for the period (up 3.3%).*In operational terms, NTT DOCOMO reported a total of 63.566 million subscribers at end-June 2014, up 3.2% year-on-year from 61.623 million in 1Q13. Further, the company reported that subscribers to its 3G services, marketed under the 'FOMA' brand, decreased by 16.7% y-o-y to 39.523 million users, while subscribers to its 4G Long Term Evolution (LTE) service, marketed under the brand name 'Xi', increased by nearly ten million to 24.043 million, compared to the 14.198 million reported twelve months previously. The company had 66,300 LTE base stations in operation by end-June 2014, and it is well on its way to meet its target of 95,300 LTE-enabled base transceiver stations (BTS) in service by the end of its current fiscal year (31 March 2015). Meanwhile, the operator confirmed the successful launch of Voice-over-LTE (VoLTE) technology in June and pointed out that it has released twelve handsets compatible with the service. (c) 2014 PriMetrica, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Provided by SyndiGate Media Inc. (Syndigate.info). |