Ever since the implementation of number portability, Softbank is struggling to process a large number of applications and cancellations for its cellphone services. Softbank shops have been forced to stop accepting applications and cancellations due to the computers’ inability to cope. The company has offered two choices to customers “defecting” from other telecom operators: a discount of Y200 per month off whatever package their former provider was offering or a range of free services, including calls made to other Softbank subscribers outside peak hours. This move is expected to trim margins further in the highly competitive Japanese market.
