DoCoMo has $4.5b fund for U.S., Asian investments<\/p>\n
TOKYO (AFP): Japanese mobile phone giant NTT DoCoMo has built
\nup a war chest of 500 billion yen (US$4.5 billion) to invest in
\nAmerican and Asian telecommunication operators, a senior DoCoMo
\nexecutive suggested to AFP Wednesday.<\/p>\n
Kiyoyuki Tsujimura, managing director of DoCoMo's global
\nbusiness, declined to put an exact figure on how much the company
\nhad to spend, but conceded 500 billion yen was \"very little
\ncompared to our capitalization\" (about 3.6 trillion yen).<\/p>\n
The company, which is 67 percent owned by the former state
\ndomestic telephone monopoly Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp.,
\nhas already spent 650 billion yen on overseas investments since
\nDecember 1999.<\/p>\n
These include 20 percent of Britain's Hutchison 3G, 19 percent
\nof Hutchison Telephone in Hong Kong, and 15 percent of Dutch
\ntelecoms company KPN Mobile.<\/p>\n
Tsujimura confirmed the company was in discussions with
\nseveral operators in the United States, but declined to name
\nthem.<\/p>\n
\"We are pursuing a variety of entry plans, including equity
\ninvestment, but we can also pursue just an alliance,\" he said,
\nadding the company was following what he called a \"capital light
\nstrategy.\"<\/p>\n
\"The US market is attractive for us because of the size of the
\nmarket, its potential for growth, and the fact than even though
\nmobile communications are behind Europe and Japan, in fixed
\nInternet, they are by far the most advanced in the world.\"<\/p>\n
Tsujimura underlined, however, that nothing had been decided,
\nnor had DoCoMo completed its search for Asian investment
\nopportunities.<\/p>\n
\"We have not finished in Asia, we only have one agreement with
\nHutchison and we can expand more. There is a wide range of
\ndevelopment in Asia. We have discussions with various operators,\"
\nhe said.<\/p>\n
Tsujimura recalled that while Singapore and South Korea have a
\nmarket penetration rate close to 50 percent for mobile phones,
\ncountries such as Thailand and Vietnam are much less developed in
\nterms of cellular penetration and mobile Internet usage.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/docomo-has-45b-fund-for-us-asian-investments-1447893297",
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