‘White Plan’ Subscribers Exceed 14 Million
TOKYO, July 28, 2008 --- SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp. (hereafter ‘SBM’) announced that ‘White Plan’ subscription applications exceeded 14 million on July 26, 2008.
White Plan is a simple price plan with a basic monthly charge of 980 yen (including tax). It offers free domestic voice calls*1 to SoftBank handsets and Disney Mobile handsets from 1:00 to 21:00, and for domestic voice calls outside that time and with others it offers a tariff of 21 yen (including tax) per 30 seconds*1. In addition, mail exchange with SoftBank 3G handsets and Disney Mobile handsets is free of charge*2.
The number of applications for ‘Double White’, a discount service for White Plan exceeded 4.94 million of even date, and this number is growing steadily. Double White is the service which provides 50% off on the domestic call tariff to 10.5 yen (including tax) per 30 seconds with a fixed monthly charge of 980 yen (including tax), and offers 50% off on the domestic ‘Video Call’ and ‘64K Digital Data Communication’ tariffs to 18.9 yen (including tax) per 30 seconds.
In addition to the above Double White and ‘White Plan Family Discount 24’ which offers free domestic voice calls*1 between family members for 24 hours, SBM has launched ‘White Plan Student Discount*3’, a discount service for students, and ‘White Plan Corporate Discount 24’, a discount service for corporate customers on February 1, 2008 and March 1, 2008 respectively. These discount services for White Plan have been well received by customers. On June 1, 2008, SBM introduced ‘White Plan Corporate Discount 24 Plus’, a new menu for White Plan Corporate Discount 24.
Furthermore, SBM also started to accept applications for ‘White Call 24*4’ and ‘White Line 24*5’, that offer free domestic voice calls between White Plan subscribers and subscribers of ‘BB Phone (phone numbers starting with 050)’ provided by SOFTBANK BB Corp. (hereafter ‘SBB’) or subscribers of ‘OTOKU Line’ provided by SOFTBANK TELECOM Corp. (hereafter ‘SBTM’) respectively from June 3, 2008.
SBM will further strive to provide services that meet customer needs and offer an environment of greater comfort and convenience for SoftBank handset usage.
- *1 Not applicable to Video Call, 64K Digital Data Communication and Global Services.
- *2 For mail exchange with non-SoftBank handsets, communication charge will be required, and subscription to ‘S! Basic Pack’ (monthly charge of 315 yen including tax) is also required. For using International Messaging Service, the regular communication charge will be applied. For mail exchange with iPhone 3G handsets, it is only applicable to SMS.
- *3 White Plan Student Discount requires the subscription to White Plan, S! Basic Pack and ‘Unlimited Packet Discount’ at the time of application. An applicant or user must be a student and submit necessary documents as designated by SBM. In addition, SBM started to accept applications for White Plan Student Discount from existing subscribers or users who are students as of Mach 31, 2008, at the time of handset upgrade (contract change or additional purchase) from April 15, 2008.
- *4 White Call 24 is a service for consumers with SoftBank 3G handsets. Subscription to both White Plan provided by SBM and ‘Yahoo! BB ADSL’ (or ‘SoftBank Broadband ADSL’) provided by SBB is required to apply for White Call 24. In addition, basic monthly charges will be required for subscription to both services.
- *5 White Line 24 is a service for corporate customers, and there are two services which offer free voice calls from OTOKU Line subscribers to White Plan subscribers, and from White Plan subscribers to OTOKU Line subscribers. Subscription to both ‘White Line 24 (OTOKU Line)’ provided by SBTM and ‘White Line 24 (Mobile)’ provided by SBM is required. White Line 24 (OTOKU Line) requires a fixed monthly charge of OTOKU Line and White Line 24 (Mobile) requires a basic monthly charge of White Plan respectively.
SoftBank ‘White Plan’ history
| Date | Topic |
|---|---|
| January 5, 2007 | Announcement of a new price plan, ‘White Plan’ (Started providing White Plan on January 16, 2007) |
| January 25, 2007 | Announcement of ‘Double White’, a discount service exclusive for White Plan (Launched on March 1, 2007) |
| February 5, 2007 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 1 million |
| March 5, 2007 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 2 million |
| March 31, 2007 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 3 million |
| May 3, 2007 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 4 million |
| May 9, 2007 | Announcement of ‘White Plan Family Discount 24’, a family discount service of White Plan (Started applying the discount from the June 2007 billing month) |
| June 7, 2007 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 5 million |
| July 8, 2007 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 6 million |
| August 12, 2007 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 7 million |
| September 17, 2007 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 8 million |
| October 29, 2007 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 9 million |
| December 22, 2007 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 10 million |
| January 21, 2008 | Announcement of a discount service for students, ‘White Plan Student Discount’ (Started providing White Plan Student Discount on February 1, 2008) |
| February 8, 2008 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 11 million |
| February 22, 2008 | Announcement of a discount service for corporate customers, ‘White Plan Corporate Discount 24’ (Started providing White Plan Corporate Discount 24 on March 1, 2008) |
| February 28, 2008 | Announcement of ‘White Plan Corporate Discount 24 Plus’, a new menu for White Plan Corporate Discount 24 (Started providing White Plan Corporate Discount 24 Plus on June 1, 2008, planned) |
| March 20, 2008 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 12 million |
| April 15, 2008 | Started accepting applications to White Plan Student Discount from existing student customers |
| May 21, 2008 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 13 million |
| July 26, 2008 | White Plan subscribers exceeded 14 million |
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- * Apple, the Apple logo and iPhone are trademarks of Apple.
- * The trademark ‘iPhone’ is used with a license from Aiphone K.K.
- * iPhone 3G may be configured to work only with the wireless services of a single wireless operator.
- * White Plan, Double White, White Line and S! Basic Pack are registered trademarks or trademarks of SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp.
- * White Call is a trademark of SOFTBANK MOBILE Corp. and SOFTBANK BB Corp.
- * The names of the companies, products and services used in this press release are registered trademarks or trademarks of the respective companies.
- * SOFTBANK, the SOFTBANK name and logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of SOFTBANK CORP. in Japan and other countries.
