Vodafone Japan to Change Name to Softbank Mobile on Oct. 1
Posted on: Thursday, 18 May 2006, 12:04 CDT
By Kyodo News International, Tokyo
May 18--TOKYO -- Softbank Corp. said Thursday that the mobile phone unit it purchased recently will change its name to Softbank Mobile Corp. from Vodafone K.K. on Oct. 1.
Softbank President Masayoshi Son told a news conference his company has decided to use its group name as the brand for the new mobile services "because it will enable the entire Softbank group to cash in on resultant synergy effects most effectively.""We will press ahead with the mobile business with a resolve never to pull out of the new business field," he said.
Softbank also said that it and Britain's Vodafone Group Plc, from which it acquired the Japanese unit, will set up a joint venture to develop cellphone handsets, a new service platform and relevant contents.
The equally financed joint venture will have maximum capital of 11 billion yen, with Softbank and Vodafone sending four members each to its board, according to the Internet and financial services firm.
Oct. 1 was selected as the timing for the corporate name change as Japan will introduce the mobile phone number portability system in the fall, under which mobile users will be allowed to use the same phone numbers even after they change a mobile carrier to whose services they subscribe, it said.
The Softbank group will gradually push the process for changing the brand for its handsets and handset retail outlets from Vodafone to Softbank around Oct. 1, it added.
The acquisition has made the Softbank group Japan's third-largest telecom company and sharpened its competitive edge against the leaders in the mobile phone sector, NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp.
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SFTBF, 9984, VOD, 9434, DCM, 9437, 9433,
Source: Kyodo News International, Tokyo
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