October 09, 2007

By By Steve McClure, Tokyo

KDDI, Japan's second-largest mobile operator, said that a total of 150 million songs had been downloaded via its LISMO Music Store download service as of Oct. 2.

LISMO Music Store, which launched in November 2004 as a mobile-based download service under the brand name EZ Chaku-uta Full, features some 700,000 songs -- mostly Japanese pop -- and is available through 118 Web sites.

In May 2006 KDDI became the first Japanese telecom to launch a Web site featuring full-length tracks and master ringtones that can be downloaded onto personal computers. Users can then transfer tracks to the mobile phones, saving on airtime charges.

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