Number of 3G Mobile Phone (CDMA2000 1x) Users Tops Six Million

No.2003-044

Number of 3G Mobile Phone (CDMA2000 1x) Users
Tops Six Million

Tokyo, March 7, 2003 - KDDI Corp. and Okinawa Cellular announced recently that the total cumulative number of users for the third-generation mobile phones (CDMA2000 1x) being offered by the two companies has surpassed six million. Sales of CDMA2000 1x au mobile phones began on April 1, 2002. The number of units sold reached one million on June 23, two million on August 23, three million on October 19, four million on December 5, 5 million on January 16 and 6 million on March 4. The six million mark was surpassed less than twelve months after the original release.

CDMA2000 1x achieves comfortable mobile Internet environments through high-speed data communications at speeds of up to 144kbps. This technology enables applications of the Internet connection service EZweb and various other provider connections with a maximum downstream speed of 144kbps and a maximum upstream speed of 64kbps. Services are already offered in all 47 of Japan's prefectures and administrative divisions, and are accessible to 90% of the country's population. Even outside of the current service areas, a full 100% of the population (with the exception of some island regions) has been able to access all communication services since the early stages, using cdmaOne, which offers data communications at speeds of up to 64kbps.

KDDI and Okinawa Cellular have released a total of 15 CDMA2000 1x mobile phone models, including the Movie Keitai (A5304T, A5303H, A5302CA and A5301T), which feature a digital camera for recording, viewing, and sending video images, and the GPS Keitai (A3012CA and A3015SA), which features a camera that is compatible with highly accurate positioning information services based on GPS (Global Positioning System) satellite signals, in addition to the simple and easy-to-use A1000 Series. Services such as Movie Mail, Photo Mail, and Chaku-Uta ringer tones have received an increasingly positive response from users, contributing to the recognition of CDMA2000 1x models as being the most convenient 3G mobile phones in Japan.