TOKYO, JAPAN, September 3, 2003 --- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that from September 6, 2003 the service area for DoCoMo's 
third-generation (3G) mobile phones will cover 99% of the population in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region*. Its eight regional subsidiaries will also expand the FOMA service area to 96% of the population nationwide by the end of September.
In conjunction with this and to further upgrade service quality, NTT DoCoMo will also increase base station density within the FOMA network. Base stations, including inside high-rise buildings and underground shopping areas, will increase to 2,800 in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region, and to 8,400 nationwide. Number of base stations in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region and nationwide were 2,500 and 7,000, respectively, as of the end of June 2003.
Furthermore, the company's In-building Mobile Communication System (
) will also be expanded to 167 buildings in Kanto-Koshinetsu and 300 building nationwide by the end of September. The number of buildings serviced under the system stood at 200 as of the end of June 2003.
NTT DoCoMo will continue to enhance its FOMA service at home. Specifically in Japan, FOMA is scheduled to cover the same service area as that for the PDC network in the Kanto-Koshinetsu region, and that for PDC in populated areas nationwide by the end of March 2004.
*Tokyo Metropolitan Area, and the prefectures of Kanagawa, Chiba, Ibaraki, Tochigi, Saitama, Gunma, Niigata, Yamanashi, and Nagano.
About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company with more than 46 million customers. The company provides a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services. These include 
, the world's most popular mobile internet service, which provides e-mail and internet access to over
39 million subscribers, and , launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe and North and South America, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North and South America. NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. For more information, visit www.docomo.ne.jp/english
i-mode, and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries.
IMCS is a registered trademark of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan.
