NTT DoCoMo Inc will introduce later this year improved search engine functionality enabling cellphone users to surf the Internet as if using a PC, the president of Japan's top mobile operator said on May 01.
Masao Nakamura said technology was advancing such that it would not be too long before mobile phone users would be able to quickly look up information on a local restaurant, a task that can be cumbersome on a handset but done in a flash on a PC.
He did not go into much detail, but suggested it was likely that search engines from both Google Inc and Yahoo Inc would play a prominent part in the beefed-up version of its popular i-mode Internet service to be launched this year.
Japan's $78 billion mobile phone market is bracing for increased competition, as a new government rule this autumn will make it easier for customers to switch services without changing their phone numbers. DoCoMo rival KDDI Corp grabbed headlines earlier this month with news that it would offer Google's search engine on its mobile phones to allow users to browse both content specifically designed for cellphones and content aimed at PCs.
"Searching on a mobile phone will ultimately become the same as searching on a PC," Nakamura said in an interview with Reuters at the company's headquarters in Tokyo. "Customers will be able to use (the improved service) by the end of this year."
DoCoMo is seen as most vulnerable to losing customers simply because it has the highest market share of the three main operators. Softbank Corp has recently entered Japan's mobile market as the No 3 player through its acquisition of the local unit of Britian's Vodafone DoCoMo expects its cancellation rate to rise in the current business year to next March and is forecasting a fall in operating profit, but Nakamura said he would aim to return to profit growth "as quickly as possible" - possibly next year.
He said he was not overly worried about the recent announcement by KDDI that it would launch a Walkman-brand music phone made by Sony Ericsson and reports that Softbank would team up with Apple Computer Inc to offer an iPod phone.
Nakamura said music functionality was important, especially because it can have a significant impact on branding. But mobile phone users are equally as concerned about network quality, pricing and the attractiveness of the handsets, he said.
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