docomo was spun off from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone (NTT) in August 1991 to take over the mobile cellular operations. docomo provides 2G (mova) PDC cellular services in 800 MHz and 1.5 GHz bands (total 34 MHz bandwidth), and 3G (FOMA) W-CDMA services in the 2 GHz (UMTS2100) and 800 MHz(UMTS800(Band VI)) and 1800 MHz(UMTS1800(Band IX)) bands. Its businesses also include PHS (Paldio), paging, and satellite. docomo ended PHS service on January 7, 2008.

Customers

NTT docomo is a subsidiary of Japan's incumbent telephone operator NTT. The majority of NTT docomo's shares are owned by NTT (which is 31% to 55% government-owned). While some NTT shares are publicly traded, control of the company by Japanese interests (Government and civilian) is guaranteed by the number of shares available to buyers. It provides wireless voice and data communications to many subscribers in Japan. NTT docomo is the creator of W-CDMA technology as well as mobile i-mode service.

NTT docomo has more than 50 million customers, which is more than half of Japan's cellular market. The company provides a wide variety of mobile multimedia services. These include i-mode which provides e-mail and internet access to over 50 million subscribers, and FOMA, 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 America, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific and Europe. NTT docomo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges.

On April 19, 2008, it was announced that Ryuji Yamada, the current co-president of NTT docomo, will be promoted as the president of NTT DoCoMo in June 2008. Masao Nakamura will stay in NTT docomo as a director and also the senior adviser. Since October 2006, when the introduction to the service which allows the user to carry their original phone number with a new provider was made, NTT docomo has lost many users to KDDI and SoftBank. This promotion was made in order to get more users for NTT docomo.

R&D

While most mobile operators globally do not perform any significant R&D and rely on equipment suppliers for the development and supply of new communication equipment, NTT docomo continues the NTT tradition of very extensive R&D efforts. It was mainly DoCoMo's strong R&D investments which allowed docomo to introduce 3G communications and i-mode data services long before such services were introduced anywhere else in the world.

On October 2007, the prototype Wellness mobile phone of Japan's NTT docomo Inc. and Mitsubishi Electric Corp. was launched at the CEATEC. It checks health with a motion sensor that detects body movement and measures calories, and includes a breathalyzer.