Apple Braces for Unlocked Iphones to Hit Europe

SAN FRANCISCO -(Dow Jones)- The arrival of new unlocking software for iPhones on Friday highlights a major challenge for Apple as it starts selling iPhones in Europe.
Just hours after Apple's iPhone went on sale Friday in the UK and Germany, hackers were distributing new "unlocking" software so iPhones could use a variety of cellphone networks, according to various reports on Apple-focused Web sites.
Cellphone operators in Germany, the U.K. and the U.S. sell their iPhones locked to their networks, the result of the exclusive arrangements they have with Apple.
European operators on Friday warned that unlocking iPhones isn't a good idea for a variety of reasons.
In the case of O2, the U.K. operator, it means no access to O2's unlimited data packages or its visual voice-mail feature. O2 has the exclusive rights to sell the iPhone in the U.K.
"In short, it makes no sense to buy an iPhone in France for use in the U.K.," said 02 spokesman Lloyd Simon.
Rumors Friday of unlocked iPhones for sale in Germany, however, attests to how European Apple fans are clamoring for such a development.
Consumers in the U.S. also are unlocking their iPhones. According to AT&T, a sizable percentage of the iPhones it has sold hasn't been activated on AT&T's network. The assumption is they were unlocked and used on other networks.
There's reason to believe the number of unlocked iPhones worldwide will increase after Nov. 29, when the iPhone debuts in France. French law requires cellphone operators to make available phones that are unlocked.
Apple and its French operator partner, Orange, are expected to comply with the French law, thus providing the first opportunity to buy an unlocked iPhone.
Apple didn't return calls and emails Friday seeking comment.
Further muddying the situation is that Apple and Orange have yet to confirm whether they will, and how they will, comply with the French law.

NTT DoCoMo's 1st-Half Earnings Hurt by Loss of Subscribers to Rivals

Tokyo, Oct 26, 2007 (Jiji Press) - NTT DoCoMo Inc. said Friday it suffered falls in revenues and profits in April-September, hurt by an exodus of subscribers under the number portability system.In stark contrast to KDDI Corp. the operator of the "au"-brand mobile phone service that last week announced record first-half group revenue and profits, NTT DoCoMo reported that its April-September group net profit slumped 20.4 pct from a year earlier to 246,510 million yen.It said that half-year operating profit decreased 21.0 pct to 408,496 million yen, weighed down by increases in advertising costs and capital investments for installing base stations.Revenues fell 2.4 pct to 2,325,117 million yen, hurt by a fall of 45.8 billion yen in revenues from mobile phone services, NTT DoCoMo said."NTT DoCoMo has been in a tough situation since the start of the mobile number portability system," President Masao Nakamura said at a press conference.The number portability system, which allows subscribers to switch mobile phone carriers without changing their phone numbers, was introduced in Japan in Oct. 24, 2006, in a bid to enhance competition in the mobile phone service market.During the one-year period, NTT DoCoMo lost a net 1,091,400 subscribers through the number portability system, while KDDI gained a net 1,232,200 subscribers. Another mobile phone firm Softbank Mobile Corp., a unit of Softbank Corp. , lost a net 105,100."We will do our best to reduce the churn rate while raising net increases in the number of new subscribers," Nakamura said.NTT DoCoMo's churn rate in the first half stood at 0.90 pct. Nakamura said that this was within the company's expectations.NTT DoCoMo's average revenue per user, or ARPU, for its FOMA and mova mobile phone services stood at 6,550 yen in the July-September quarter, down 2.5 pct from a year before. ARPU, a key gauge of profitability in the telecommunications industry, at the au business of rival KDDI stood at 6,400 yen for the same term.Hurt by the loss of existing subscribers, NTT DoCoMo revised downward its full-year group revenue estimate to 4,667 billion yen, from an earlier projected 4,728 billion yen. Mobile phone service revenues are expected to fall 58 billion yen short of the company's predictions, it said.But the company kept intact its full-year operating profit estimate of 780 billion yen."The introduction of a series of discount packages is expected to erode NTT DoCoMo's full-year operating profit by 20 billion yen. But this will be offset in full by a reduction in incentive payments to sales agents," Nakamura said.