Softbank Mobile stays No. 1 net subscription gainer for 22nd month

Saturday 07th March, 07:50 AM JST

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flammenwerfer at 08:24 PM JST - 7th March

Softbank has great marketing BUT the weakest coverage of the big three by far. Where Au and Docomo work perfectly - especially indoors, softbank has no signal. A phone that has no signal is hopeless. For that reason alone I wouldnt go softbank.
Ultradude at 09:24 PM JST - 7th March

I have no problem with Softbank - been with them for years, iPhone user now. Live in Tokyo, can't speak for inaka.
likeitis at 10:27 PM JST - 7th March

Softbank has great marketing BUT the weakest coverage of the big three by far.

I can vouch for Docomo working on several mountaintops and odd valleys in the sticks. 99.9 percent of my life is spent elsewhere however. Softbank coverage seems just fine to me even if it is the weakest. The extra cost of Docomo does not remotely justify the extra coverage for my purposes.
flammenwerfer at 09:13 AM JST - 8th March

Don't work in my office then, no softbank signal in much of it. Extra cost? not if you are on a family plan - it's cheaper (for me anyway)
limitedexpress at 10:35 AM JST - 8th March

Have both Docomo Foma and Softbank 3G. Both have good points.

If you are an arrogant,angry, bitter,chronically upset person and seem to fly into a rage at the drop of hat. I recommend you not attempt to sign up with ANY mobile carrier in Japan. If you must.A Softbank prepaid may be a safe choice.If yoう smash it in a drunken brawl at Gas Panic at least you are only out about ￥５０００．
kanadamanada at 03:18 PM JST - 8th March

I started with J-Phone, then followed them into Vodafone and now to Softbank. I will say that the service from the male staff of Softbank is terrible, bordering on incompetant, and I try as much as possible to only seek assistance from the women working there. However, when I went in to pick up my repaired handset 2 weeks ago, the only person working was a man and guess what he ended up doing - he DELETED my address book! 5+ years of phone numbers and addresses - GONE! To make matters worse, this morning the handset again showed the exact same problem they had supposedly fixed! To say I am not impressed with Softbank would be a gross understatement. I would not advise anyone to sign up with Softbank and I am seriously considering defecting to Docmomo if they can get the Blackberry up to speed.
likeitis at 03:29 PM JST - 8th March

Don't work in my office then, no softbank signal in much of it.

I would bet money that it is a problem with your office and not Softbank. As we don't know if we will or do share an office building with you, the comment is pretty useless.
likeitis at 03:30 PM JST - 8th March

I will say that the service from the male staff of Softbank is terrible, bordering on incompetant, and I try as much as possible to only seek assistance from the women working there.

Hardly unique to Softbank. This is my policy when I deal with ANY company in Japan!
likeitis at 03:32 PM JST - 8th March

If you must.A Softbank prepaid may be a safe choice.If yoう smash it in a drunken brawl at Gas Panic at least you are only out about ￥５０００．

Good advice. Softbank is the only carrier that offers prepaid phones that include e-mail, essential if you want to text people using other carriers (just about freaking everybody).
flammenwerfer at 05:44 PM JST - 8th March

I would bet money that it is a problem with your office and not Softbank. As we don't know if we will or do share an office building with you, the comment is pretty useless.

likeitis, do you work for softbank? are getting paid for defending them so vehemently? the problem is with softbank's weak signal, Au and docomo work fine in my office, softbank doesn't. My friend lives in a rural village, softbank gets no signal at all, the other two do. I have been with people in basement bars where softbank gets no signal yet the other two do. I have spoken to people who have the same the complaint, they have trouble acquiring a good softbank signal in large buildings. It's not just my office and I disagree that my comments are useless. Maybe you are just lucky with your circumstances??

My advice to anyone coming to Japan is go Au or docomo and I can give them credible reasons why. Sorry softbank irrespective of how good their customer service is or how good their handsets are or how cheap they can be - just don't cut it.
likeitis at 06:01 PM JST - 8th March

likeitis, do you work for softbank? are getting paid for defending them so vehemently?

No, most of my comments are only in response to people who we might expect work for the competition. You say you have your experiences. I say I have mine.

My advice to anyone coming to Japan is go Au or docomo and I can give them credible reasons why.

My advice is to ask people who visit your house or office or local bar what phone service they use and if they get a signal and how much they pay a month and decide for themselves from there. What some stranger said on the net is pretty substandard evidence compared to that.

But if you want prepaid (and you can save A LOT of money by only texting and receiving calls using prepaid) Softbank is your only sane choice. But take my word for it. Go to an AU or Docomo office and ask for prepaid phones that are capable of sending test messages via the internet. The Docomo people will say they have no prepaid phones, and the AU people say their phones only use their in-house C-mail.
likeitis at 06:03 PM JST - 8th March

But take my word for it.

Sorry, don't take my word for it. Or anybody else's for that matter.
CMEANDU26 at 11:50 AM JST - 9th March

I used to complain about cell phone sevice and dead spots. AU was the best company I have been with until I switched. Softbank is very good. I have dead spots but so do people with other carriers. I have had no problems with customer service. They are very nice and helpful. Don't know where all the complaints are coming from.
FreeInJapan at 12:44 PM JST - 9th March

FYI, part of the reason that Softbank's coverage is not up to par with DoCoMo and AU is that they are not yet licensed to use the 800 Mhz frequency DoCoMo and AU are using. The Japanese Government refuses to license them until the year 2015. That said, Softbank's reported signal coverage is still somewhere in the 97-98% range.

I started with DoCoMo way back when, switched to AU which was cheaper and still had good signal quality (plus decent phones), and actually plan to switch to Softbank this weekend when I get an iPhone under the new campaign. I can't speak much about Softbank's customer service as of yet, but I can say that I've had wayyyy to many battles with KDDI/AU and have been looking to get out from under them for awhile now (just been waiting as my wife and I will have to pay an arm and a leg since they magically "renewed" our contracts without our consent, which I found out later seems to be a common practice for all carriers). Too many mistakes made by AU, they showed no regret or interest in providing satisfactory resolutions made by their staff (and I've taken my fight all the way to the Head Office), and now they can go take a flying leap. My wife wanted to switch to Softbank before but I never particularly cared for any of their phones, which seemed to be cheaply made. That's been taken care of now that they have the iPhone and started this campaign.

For those complaining about not being able to get signals on "mountain tops" or in basement bars, wake up, EVERY carrier has problem areas for coverage.
terebiko at 05:42 PM JST - 12th March

What are the reasons that the government gives for not licensing Softbank for the 800Mhz frequency until 2015? Sounds a bit strange to me.