TOKYO, Oct. 7, 2009 (Kyodo News International) -- Softbank Mobile Corp. ranked first among Japanese cellphone service providers in net subscription gains in September for the second consecutive month, according to their announcements Wednesday.

Softbank Mobile gained a net 108,000 new contracts in the month, attracting new customers with a new discount plan to temporarily eliminate basic fees for switchers to Softbank from other cellphone service providers.

KDDI Corp., which provides ''au'' mobile phone services, replaced NTT Docomo Inc. (NYSE:DCM) as the second-largest net contract gainer with 102,300 contracts, taking advantage of a new service offering fixed charges on calls to designated people.

Emobile Ltd. came third with 88,200 contracts, followed by NTT Docomo with 66,000 contracts. NTT Docomo lost many customers on the expiration of its two-year discount service introduced in 2007.

Willcom Inc., which provided mobile services using the personal handyphone system, posted a net loss of 35,400 contracts.