>> DoCoMo Sees Taiwan As A Stepping Stone To China
Steve Crook
Taiwan Correspondent
Asia Wireless News
asia.internet.com
December 13, 2000
Japan's NTT DoCoMo and Taiwan's KG Telecom have agreed to bring DoCoMo's i-Mode services to Taiwan, and to jointly explore the Chinese mainland market.
DoCoMo's president, Keiji Tachikawa, said the arrangement would enhance the companies' prospects in China once the PRC has entered the World Trade Organization--a development expected within months.
KG Telecom's chairman, Leslie Koo, said he was confident that DoCoMo's technology and content will make KG Telecom a leader in wireless broadband services, and enable the Taiwanese company to provide personalized, high-quality services throughout the region.
The two companies plan to develop a Chinese-language version of i-Mode next year. i-Mode is currently the most popular wireless Net format in the world, being used by almost half of DoCoMo's 33 million mobile phone subscribers in Japan.
Two weeks ago, DoCoMo paid NT$17.1 billion ($518 million) for a 20 percent stake in KG Telecom, the third-largest of Taiwan's six mobile phone service providers. This year, DoCoMo has bought into carriers in Hong Kong and the Philippines, plus a stake in AT&T Wireless.
According to Taiwan's Directorate General of Telecommunications, KG Telecom has 3.06 million subscribers, giving it a market share of 19 percent.
Despite heavy advertising and one of the highest levels of mobile phone usage in the world, wireless Internet access has failed to catch on in Taiwan, where there are fewer than 100,000 WAP users. WAP is widely perceived as slow and expensive; many consumers are reported to be waiting for faster systems, such as General Packet Radio Service (GPRS).
In October, KG Telecom signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Nokia to work together on the development of 3G mobile networks. In early September, KG Telecom debuted Taiwan's first GPRS network, using Nokia equipment.
The deal with DoCoMo is seen as boosting KG Telecom's chances of winning of a license from Taiwan's government to offer 3G mobile Internet services.
According to the research arm of Nomura Securities, such a license will be worth between NT$10 billion and NT$40 billion ($300 million to $1.2 billion). <<
- Eric - |
