Japan's KDDI au hits 19 million subscribers in February 2005

On February 13, 2005, KDDI au, the second largest Japan's wireless carrier, announced the record 19 million-subscriber base. CDMA standard-backer KDDI au competes in 3G arena with NTT DoCoMo and Vodafone that opted for UMTS standard instead.

The company was successful in shifting its subscriber base from 2G to 3G handsets, reaching 90% 3G penetration or 17 million 3G subscribers among its customer base. KDDI au was outperforming its main rival DoCoMo in 3G subscriptions 2 years in a row.

While DoCoMo managed to secure only 9.3 million 3G subscribers so far, it has plenty of room to expand, taking into account its vast 2G subscriber base of 38.7 million subscribers that will likely to shift to the company's 3G base. However, KDDI au may use its appeal such as diversified value added services, attractive handsets, and affordable rates to lure customers from DoCoMo.

Considering Japan's mobile penetration climbing to 70% soon, stealing customers from each other will be the only domestic market strategy left for Japan's mobile operators in near future.

As of January 2005, out of total 127 million Japanese 85.8 million owned a cell phone.