All,
More CDMA related news.
DDI, Japan Telecom to Take Over Nissan's Mobile Phone Operation
August 10, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Nissan Motor Co., Ltd. will sell all its shares in the nine TU-KA cellular phone businesses to DDI Corp. and two other companies.
DDI will purchase the stocks of the three TU-KA Group companies, and Japan Telecom Co., Ltd. and U.S.-based AirTouch International will purchase the stocks of the six Digital TU-KA Group firms.
With the decision, Nissan will virtually retreat from the mobile phone service business.
Japan's wireless phone companies are arranged into the following groups. NTT Mobile Communications Network Inc. (NTT DoCoMo), Japan Telecom, and the DDI Corp. and IDO Corp. (IDO) camp.
DDI has invested in TU-KA Cellular Tokyo Inc. and TU-KA Cellular Tokai Inc. of the TU-KA Group. DDI will convert them into subsidiaries by acquiring Nissan's stocks.
As for TU-KA Phone Kansai Inc., DDI will hold a 34.62 percent stake after acquiring Nissan's stocks. The transfer is to be completed before the end of fiscal 1999. DDI intends to increase its share in other companies in which it has invested to more than 50 percent by asking them to transfer their stocks to DDI, a company official said.
DDI will secure second place in Japan, after NTT DoCoMo, with a total of about 12 million subscribers. That total will include subscribers to DDI Cellular Phone, subscribers to the three TU-KA Group companies, and those of IDO -- with which DDI collaborates in cdmaOne technology.
Also, DDI will be able to have a solid financial base because the two TU-KA Cellular companies are expected to recover their cumulative loss within fiscal 1999 and because TU-KA Phone Kansai is expected to be profitable soon.
And DDI will be able to construct base stations for IMT-2000. That's the next-generation technology of mobile communications networks, with greater density of operations, by making the best use of existing facilities of the three TU-KA Group companies.
According to DDI, there will be no change in wireless phone services offered by the three TU-KA Group companies for the time being, and a new service will be developed as well. DDI will continue to offer roaming service to the Digital TU-KA Group network throughout Japan.
However, in commercializing the IMT-2000 system scheduled to be launched from 2001, DDI plans to adopt the cdma2000 system instead of the W-CDMA system that has been developed by TU-KA Group.
Additionally, Nissan has investments ranging from 21.4 percent to 23.6 percent in six companies in the Digital TU-KA Group. Japan Telecom will purchase most of these stakes. Japan Telecom has the exact same portion stakes in the Digital TU-KA Group (as Nissan).
After acquiring TU-KA Group's stocks from Nissan, Japan Telecom will start negotiating with other shareholders to acquire more shares in fiscal 2000 at the earliest, said Koichi Sakata, chairman of Japan Telecom. The transfer of the stakes from Nissan to Japan Telecom will be competed in September.
Japan Telecom will strengthen its nationwide service system for the existing mobile phone infrastructure, and it will be in a position to more easily initiate the IMT-2000 business. Sakata said that the company will start offering services based on IMT-2000 technology in the fall of 2001 at the latest.
In about October, the Digital TU-KA Group will change its name together with the Digital Phone Group, which is to be its associated company. For now, the group is planning to adopt "J-PHONE," which is the brand name used by Digital Phone Group for its service. It will create such names as J-PHONE Hokkaido, J-PHONE Tokyo, and others for various regions. The J-PHONE Group will provide nationwide services in a more reliable manner.
On Nov. 30, 1998, Japan Telecom, Nissan and AirTouch International jointly set up IMT-2000 Planning Co., Ltd. for the purpose of preparing for IMT-2000 services. Their ratios of stakes in IMT-2000 Planning also will change. While the ratio of AirTouch will remain the same, Japan Telecom will increase its share from 40 percent to 45.5 percent, and Nissan will decrease its share from 34 percent to 8.5 percent. British Telecom, which will tie up with Japan Telecom, will hold a 20 percent stake.
Brian H. |
