Basic Approach & FY2010 Highlights

Mobile phones have become a form of infrastructure essential to day-to-day living, but there are still places where mobile phones cannot be used. In order to improve this situation, we have continued to further enhance our coverage area under the banner of No. 1 in reception quality. The first phase of this effort, we primarily involved establishing new outdoor FOMA base stations to expand coverage areas. In the second phase, we worked to make improvements of reception quality of underground, to the areas blocked by the adjacent buildings, on the upper floors of buildings, in mountainous, and also during people transferring at high speeds. In the third phase, we continue to expand the coverage area and improve reception quality with responding closely to customer feedbacks, while also working to speed up data communications.
Under this initiative, when a customer contacts us through our website or via customer support about an area where the signal is weak, we will basically visit the site within 48 hours after the initial contact and survey reception quality and conduct follow-up until final improvements are made. Based on a questionnaire given out on these visits, over 97% of customers say they are "satisfied" with us in this area.
In addition, in order to handle higher speed communications and larger data volumes, we launched extra-high-speed next-generation LTE service, XiTM ("crossy") in 2010. We plan to establish approximately 35,000 base stations around the country by the end of fiscal 2014 to build a highly accessible communications network with higher speeds.

In order to ensure the availability of communications during disasters, DOCOMO has established the Three Principles of Disaster Preparedness: enhancing system reliability, ensuring essential communications, and quick restoration of communications services during disasters. We are working to improve the safety and reliability of communications networks through doubling communication systems and multi-routing core networks, strengthening buildings to withstand earthquakes and communications towers, and by augmenting equipment for restoring network service.
DOCOMO is a designated public institution and when a disaster occurs we work in coordination with government agencies and municipalities to maintain communications and provide a variety of essential services. These include sending out Earthquake Early Warnings issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency through our "Area Mail Disaster Information Service" and providing the "Disaster Message Board Service" that allows people to check on the safety and well-being of others using their mobile phones. In fiscal 2010 we made the "Disaster Message Board Service" available on smartphones as well. In addition, we created a disaster preparedness booklet entitled "Moshimo ni Sonaete" (Preparing for disasters) with information on disaster response measures and distributed it to customers at municipal disaster response drills and other disaster preparedness events.
Going forward, DOCOMO will continue to improve area coverage quality, conduct new disaster preparedness measures based on lessons learned from the Great East Japan Earthquake and further strengthen measures to protect essential functions.

Area Mail is a system that enables information to be broadcast simultaneously without being impacted by network traffic. The system can be used to send out Earthquake Early Warnings issued by the Japan Meteorological Agency as well as disaster and evacuation information from the central government and local municipalities. In fiscal 2010 the Earthquake and Tsunami Warning System (ETWS), which enables information to be broadcast even faster, was adopted for Earthquake Early Warnings. We also actively promoted widespread use of the system, and the number of municipalities adopting it increased from 23 to 49 as of the end of the fiscal year. Moving forward, we intend to help make communities even safer by continuing to encourage use of Area Mail while enhancing its functionality.

In addition to maintaining the availability of communications during disasters, DOCOMO is working to enhance services that help in times of disaster and widely publicize them to customers. As a part of these efforts, in August 2009 we created an illustrated booklet entitled "Moshimo ni Sonaete" (Preparing for disasters) with easy-to-follow information on how to use the services. And, in August 2010 we created another booklet focused specifically on the "Disaster Message Board Service." DOCOMO is working to provide peace of mind to customers by holding informative presentations using these booklets at disaster preparedness drills and other venues.