Softbank May Raise Spending 11% for Network Expansion

Summary (6/30/2007) Softbank Corp., which owns Japan’s third-largest mobile-phone company, plans to boost capital spending at least 11 percent this year to expand its network and catch up with bigger rivals NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp. The company will raise spending to about 432.9 billion yen ($3.5 billion) in the 12 months ending March 2008, from 389.8 billion yen a year earlier, Tokyo-based Softbank said in a financial statement submitted to the Ministry of Finance on June 22. The mobile-phone unit will increase spending at least 26 percent to about 387.9 billion yen, according to the document.Chief Executive Officer Masayoshi Son failed to meet his network expansion plans last fiscal year. By the end of March, Softbank had 29,404 base stations, which transmit mobile-phone signals, missing the company’s own target and trailing DoCoMo’s number of stations by 36 percent. (Bloomberg) http://www.mobilemediajapan.com/