Dec. 7 (Bloomberg) -- Softbank Corp., Japan's third-biggest mobile-phone operator, took market share from NTT DoCoMo Inc. and KDDI Corp. for a seventh straight month after gaining customers with the country's cheapest calling package.

The carrier added 191,600 subscribers last month, compared with DoCoMo's 48,200 and KDDI's 65,400, according to data disclosed by the Tokyo-based companies today. KDDI's gains were the smallest since February 2002, spokesman Haruhiko Maede said.

Softbank for the first time led gains in users who switch carriers without changing phone numbers. That may bolster earnings as so-called number-portability users spend about 7,500 yen ($67) a month, or about 20 percent more than the average, Makio Inui, an analyst at UBS AG wrote in a September report.

Softbank users spent an average of 4,800 yen a month in the quarter ended Sept. 30, below DoCoMo's 6,550 yen and KDDI's 6,400 yen. DoCoMo's subscriber tally stood at 53 million at the end of November, while KDDI had 29.4 million and Softbank 17.4 million.

To contact the reporter for this story: Masaki Kondo in Tokyo at mkondo3@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: December 7, 2007 04:14 EST