Japan's top cellphone operator NTT DoCoMo says it will stop offering second-generation service by 2012 as third generation technology featuring Internet and real-time video goes mainstream.

Company president Masao Nakamura was quoted that the move is in part to cut costs for the firm, even though some 85 percent or 40 million of NTT DoCoMo's current subscribers are on second-generation handsets.

NTT DoCoMo was a pioneer in 3G, in 2001 introducing its Foma brand whose latest models feature videophones for face-to-face communication and can trasmit e-mail messages of up to 10,000 characters.

The abolition of second-generation service would force customers of Japan's largest operator to switch to the more advanced, more costly handsets.

Despite its success in Japan, 3G has yet to gain mass acceptance in most of the world, with questions raised about whether many consumers will pay premium price for hi-tech features.

In early November, British mobile telephone giant Vodafone became the first of Europe's major players to launch mass-market third-generation services, hoping to steal a march on its rivals ahead of the crucial Christmas sales period.

Vodafone said it was targeting over 10 million 3G customers by March 2006. NTT DoCoMo, by contrast, expects some 10.8 customers by the end of March 2005.