Japanese operator eMobile – focused on providing HSPA services via a data-centric business model – has reaffirmed aspirations to generate a profit this year. First reported by Mobile Business Briefing at the GSMA Mobile Asia Congress in November last year, eMobile believes it will likely log a profit in the second half of this financial year, helped by high demand for its data services for notebook PCs. In terms of EBITDA, eMobile is already in the black on a monthly basis, chief executive Sachio Semmoto told Reuters in an interview. “There is a high possibility that we will manage to bring eMobile to a net profit,” he said. “The pace of growth is a little faster than we expected. Once we attain profit, we will consider possibilities for maximising returns to our investors,” he added, but declined to comment on whether or not he would list the mobile venture (a subsidiary of parent company eAccess), in which Goldman Sachs has a 35.7 percent stake.

eAccess was one of three companies granted new mobile licenses by the Japanese government in 2005. eMobile has already gained a 17 percent share of the country’s HSPA market (according to Wireless Intelligence), with 1.4 million customers. It launched a 3.6Mb/s HSDPA flat-rate data service in March 2007, steadily moving up to 7.2Mb/s on the downlink as well as launching new HSUPA services, and boasts a connections growth rate far higher than its more established rivals, NTT DoCoMo, KDDI and Softbank.