C o n t r ibu t ing t o a B e t t er S o cie t y b y A ddr e s sing E n v ir o nm en t a l
a nd S o cie t a l C onc er ns — w i t h t he Ne w DO COMO Commitments as Our Guide
Global warming is a major threat for humanity, and it is urgent
that we reduce CO 2 emissions. DOCOMO must also do its
utmost to help create a low-carbon society. As a mobile
phone service provider, the challenge for DOCOMO is to
The key words I raised when I became president were
innovation and challenge. By innovation I mean improved
customer satisfaction, as expressed in the New DOCOMO
Commitments. By challenge I mean showing leadership
through technological innovation. To realize both, we need a
dynamic and energizing workplace. With the recent corporate
consolidation at NTT DOCOMO, I would like all our related
companies to continue challenging themselves to move
toward the same dream, with workplaces where employees
and management work closely together and ideas from the
front lines are constantly turned into reality.
CSR Support Activities
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An All-Out Effort to Tackle Environmental Issues
and Create a Low-Carbon Society
Other Challenges: Creating a Dynamic Company
that Cultivates Human Resources and Brings
Dreams to Reality
Earth Connections
Everything related to mobile phones has grown with remarkable
speed. That growth has brought with it the positive aspects of
vastly expanded means of human communication. But we
cannot ignore the negatives. We must recognize now, more
than ever, that mobile phones can sometimes be a medium for
negative impacts on our youth. It is natural to expect that
mobile phone service providers should take some responsibility
to deal with such issues. We have already introduced systems
to restrict site access from mobile phones during certain hours
and systems for filtering out certain sites that could be a
harmful influence on our youth. We will continue to respond as
As a mobile phone service provider, DOCOMO is constantly
searching for ways to use communication to provide value to
society. Communication is essential in society. It connects
people to people. During a disaster or other emergency, mobile
phones often act as a lifeline and essential service. In this
modern day, mobile phones have become a crucial part of the
infrastructure, connecting people to people. In Japan today,
with lower birth rates and the aging of society, mobile phones
can play an important role by connecting the elderly with their
families. For functions such as these, it is important to ensure
that mobile phones are easy for anyone to use. This is the very
concept behind “universal design.” The Sound Leaf (a bone
conduction receiver-microphone) is one example of products
that are easy to use for persons with disabilities. In the future,
we will continue to develop products based on universal design
and to make stores “barrier free,” with easy access for all. We
believe that these initiatives will create value for society and
lead to greater customer satisfaction.
Future Connections
To Create a Safe and Secure Mobile Socie ty,
NTT DOCOMO Intends to Play a Ke y Role
in Addressing Impacts on Our Youth.
Making Connections—Our Goal is to Le t
the Greatest Possible Number of People Benefit
from What Mobile Phones Have to Offer.
reduce the CO2 emissions of society as a whole through the
use o f inf orma tion and communica tion t echnologies.
Telecommunications should enable people to work at home
and to hold meetings by videophone. If we can help to reduce
the movement of people in ways such as these, it should be
possible to reduce CO2 emissions correspondingly.
The further spread of information and communications
technologies will likely increase the power consumption of
base stations and servers that support communications
networks. Thus it is important to make simultaneous efforts to
reduce that consumption. NTT DOCOMO is doing all it can
through research and development, but also through the
introduction o f highly ef ficient po wer sources and air
conditioning equipment, and rethinking the way buildings are
designed. For more efficient use of resources, we are pouring
considerable effort into the collection and recycling of used
mobile phones. In fiscal 2007, we took back 3.4 million
handsets, bringing our cumulative total so far to 65 million
handsets. To increase the number of collection boxes for used
ha nds e t s, w e a r e a ppr o a ching lo c a l go v er nm e n t s,
convenience stores, and other parties in Japan.
In another area, to reduce CO 2 emissions and protect
biodiversity we are cooperating in a tree planting program
with PLDT (Philippine company in which we hold a partial
interest) and the local community. This program makes use of
experience we have gained over the years through the
DOCOMO Woods program. Environmental problems can only
be overcome by mobilizing human wisdom and knowledge.
We could also say that they require cooperation over and
above corporate interests. It is in this spirit that we aim to join
with other stakeholders to tackle these issues.
Life Connections
The mobile phone market has transformed itself dramatically
in the past few years. One could say that it has shifted from
the growth phase to the mature phase. Adapting to these
changes, DOCOMO recently unveiled its New DOCOMO
Commitments, renewed its brand and CSR Message, and
recreated itself as the new DOCOMO.
The core theme of the New DOCOMO Commitments is
improving customer satisfaction. We would like customers to
be very happy with their DOCOMO phones and to use them
for a long time. About 53 million people are using DOCOMO
mobile phones (as of 31 March 2008), and for us the most
important goal is to satisfy each and every one of them.
Activities related to corporate social responsibility (CSR) are
one important aspect of all this. We believe that CSR is an
important obligation for any corporation. Through our business
activities we will make our best effort to address various issues
facing society. It would be very gratifying if we could help
improve the state of the world, even if only with one global
issue. We would like to be proactive in tackling issues so that in
ten or twenty years we can have a peaceful world and more
people can live satisfying lives in a sustainable society. For this,
we warmly welcome input from customers and society about
what actions we should take and how we should move forward.
Our CSR Message articulates those sentiments. The New
DOCOMO Commitments enumerate a number of areas we
consider to be important—more effort for our Mobile Phone
Safety Program, the further promotion of “universal design,”
protection of the global environment, and so on. We don’ t just
believe that such activities are a part of CSR. They also lead to
greater customer satisfaction; in fact, we believe that CSR and
customer satisfaction are both on the same path.
circumstances require, while continuing to engage in dialogue
with customers and concerned parties.
To address the serious issues of impacts on our youth, we
believe that we will only be truly effective if mobile phone
companies tackle the problems together with youth and the
adults around them. It is for this reason that DOCOMO has
offered awareness-raising activities like the Mobile Phone
Safety Program—not only for youth but also for parents,
educa tors, and so on—so tha t everyone involved can
understand the situation and use mobile phones safely and
wisely. These sessions were held about 2,400 times throughout
Japan in fiscal 2007. In fiscal 2008 our goal is to expand the
program further. We will encourage active participation by our
employees, in an effort to create more opportunities for direct
communication with customers, and will seek even more
focused responses to these issues in the future.
For societal issues such as these, we believe it is important
for DOCOMO to play a key role and to work in close liaison
with the parties concerned, including school personnel,
government, police agencies, and so on.
DOCOMO’s Evolving CSR Approach
Connecting People to People,
Connecting People to the Future,
DOCOMO’s CSR Message Embodies Our Philosophy.
Our Philosophy
M e s s a g e f r o m t h e CE O
September 2008
Ryuji Yamada
President and Chief Executive Officer
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