TOKYO-Japan’s dominant wireless carrier, NTT DoCoMo, is in talks with SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp. about taking a minority stake in the combined mobile venture between the two U.S. carriers, according to a report in the Aug. 17 edition of the Financial Times.
The discussions center on a partnership to offer mobile Internet services in the United States based on DoCoMo’s wildly popular i-mode service, the report said.
Mr. Mizushima, DoCoMo spokesman, confirmed the carrier is in talks with several operators in the United States, Europe and Asia regarding alliances, although he would not confirm specific discussions with SBC/BellSouth.
The Japanese carrier was rumored to be in discussions with VoiceStream Wireless Corp. about taking a minority stake before the U.S. operator agreed to a Deutsche Telekom takeover last month.
DoCoMo’s i-mode service had 10.02 million users as of Aug. 6 and is the largest Internet service provider in Japan. International press reports have predicted KPN Mobile in the Netherlands, in which DoCoMo has a 15-percent stake, will introduce a similar wireless Internet service in Europe as early as this year.
DoCoMo plans to introduce third-generation services in Japan in May 2001 based on wideband CDMA technology. In July, it bought a 20-percent stake in Hutchison 3G, which won a 3G license at auction earlier this year in the United Kingdom. Since then, some people have speculated that i-mode could replace WAP as the most-used wireless Internet technology in Europe.
