Operator’s overall revenue expands 10% year-on-year in fiscal Q1
Japanese mobile operator SoftBank ended the first quarter of fiscal year 2015 with 31.56 million mobile subscribers in the country, up from 30.8 million in the year-ago period. Net additions during the quarter totaled 20,000. The Japanese telco currently has over 10 million TDD-LTE subscribers.
SoftBank offers TDD-LTE and FDD-LTE services across Japan, launching the networks in 2012.
The number of units sold for main subscribers of mobile communications services for Q1 increased by 203,000 year-on-year to 2.19 million.
The company’s overall revenue for the quarter reached 2.14 trillion yen ($17.12 billion), climbing 10% year-on-year. Net profits for the period reached 213.4 billion yen, up 175% vs. fiscal Q1 2014. Revenue from domestic operations totaled 720 billion yen in the quarter, up 7.3% year-on-year.
In the U.S., where the Japanese telco owns mobile operator Sprint, revenue reached 974 billion yen in fiscal Q1, up 8.5%. The Sprint platform had 675,000 net subscriber additions for the first quarter, ending June with a total of 56.8 million.
SoftBank expects total capital expenditures to reach 390 billion yen in fiscal year 2015, which ends March 31, 2016. The operator plans to invest a similar figure during fiscal year 2016. The Asian company also reported a near $1 billion share buyback.
The telco recently announced plans to carry out a technical trial of “TDD+” in Tokyo by the end of this year.
The company’s “4.5G” trials will be carried out using equipment for multiple vendors, Hidebumi Kitahara, senior director for Softbank said.
The Japanese telco is collaborating with Huawei in the development of what it’s calling TDD+ technology and also has recently signed a deal with ZTE for the deployment of 4.5G technology.
Dtac to launch VoLTE in Thailand in November
In related Asian news, Thai mobile operator Dtac plans to launch voice-over-LTE services by November, according to the Bangkok Post. Dtac’s CTO Prathet Tankuranun said that the company also plans to launch voice-over-Wi-Fi.
Tankuranun said the rollout of VoLTE services will eventually allow the operator to shut down its 2G network. Dtac is owned by European telecom group Telenor. According to Telenor’s latest financial results, Dtac’s 4G network now covers 21% of the Thai population while 3G has surpassed 88% population coverage.
