DoCoMo's HSPDA nationwide coverage reaches 96%

DoCoMo sees a direct correlation between network speed and increasing data ARPU. That’s why it aggressively rolling out HSDPA-compatible devices and blanketing the every corner of Japan with HSDPA coverage. At a press conference in January, the operator’s president Mr. Nakamura claimed the 96% of Japan territory to be in a service area of DoCoMo’s HSDPA network. DoCoMo plans to improve the coverage a notch up to 97% by March this year. A combination of flat data plan, mobile content services and high network speed start bearing fruit as the overall data ARPU has reached JPY2,200 (around $20), a healthy increase by 9.5% from last year. For comparison, the data ARPU of users on a flat data plan with HSDPA phones alone was impressive JPY3,950 ($36). Now, you can imagine why it’s important to have all three elements (network, handsets and content) in place for data revenues finally making a home run.