Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Technology Stocks : The New Qualcomm - a S&P500 company -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: limtex who wrote (10858)	5/27/2000 10:01:00 AM
From: Ibexx	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 13582

limtex, The implied parallelism between CDMA/GSM and Betamax/VHS is not quite valid. In the former case, there is tremendous economic advantage by deploying CDMA in addition to higher quality of transmission, whereas in the latter, Betamax could only claim greater viewing pleasure and other secondary advantages. In any business situation, given time, it's always the economic forces that drive the (ultimate) market direction. Regards, Ibexx

To: limtex who wrote (10858)	5/27/2000 2:47:00 PM
From: Boplicity	Respond to of 13582

DoCoMo in Talks to Buy 10% of Korea's SK Telecom, People Say Seoul, May 27 (Bloomberg) -- NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's largest mobile phone company, is in talks to buy as much as 10 percent of SK Telecom Co., giving it access to Korea's 26 million cellular subscribers and extending its operations in Asia, people familiar with Korea's No. 1 cellular phone provider said. Based on SK Telecom's latest closing price of 345,000 won, NTT DoCoMo would have to pay at least $2.7 billion for the stake. SK Telecom, majority owned by SK Corp., Korea's largest refinery, has 89 million shares outstanding. DoCoMo and SK Telecom declined to comment. The purchase would be DoCoMo's second-largest after its acquisition of a 15 percent stake in KPN Mobile NV for about 5 billion euros ($4.5 billion) earlier this month. The acquisition could be announced as soon as next week, the people said. A stake in SK Telecom fits with NTT's strategy of taking minority holdings in other mobile carriers as it seeks to expand its operations outside Japan. DoCoMo and its rivals worldwide are rushing to prepare for the introduction next year of technology to allow users to make phone calls from the same handset anywhere in the world. DoCoMo has said the primary purpose of its foreign alliances is to promote its wideband code division multiple access standard, a technology which will provide handset owners with the ability to receive streaming video and to access the Internet at data transmission rates several times faster than with today's technology. DoCoMo, which developed W-CDMA in cooperation with Sweden's Ericsson AB and Finland's Nokia Oyj, now needs partners to ensure its adoption as an industry standard. The Japanese company would be buying into Korea's dominant provider of mobile telecommunications services. SK Telecom provides services to 43 percent of the country's mobile phone subscribers. The Seoul-based company added another 14 percent earlier this year after its purchase of rival Shinsegi Telecom Co., Korea's No. 3 mobile phone operator. Existing Partnership NTT DoCoMo and SK Telecom already have an agreement allowing their subscribers traveling to either Japan or Korea to borrow phones compatible with the local network in which they are visiting. They are also cooperating on technology that would allow their subscribers to use the other's network without changing handsets. DoCoMo also wants to expand its i-mode mobile Internet service globally through overseas alliances, including KPN, the company has said. The i-mode service enables cellular phone users to browse web pages, reserve airline tickets, make bank transfers and play video games. SK will introduce a new mobile Internet service by October based on the IS-95C interim standard, investing 500 billion won ($445 million) in equipment this year. The standard will provide data transmission capabilities up to a third faster than DoCoMo's current i-mode service. DoCoMo said earlier this month it is not prepared to become a major shareholder in any foreign company and will seek only minority stakes -- around 15 percent -- in overseas carriers as it expands. The Tokyo-based company said it may try to buy a stake in Orange PLC to enter the much bigger U.K. market. Orange, the No. 3 U.K. cellular company, must be sold by Vodafone AirTouch Plc to secure regulatory approval for its $161 billion takeover of Germany's Mannesmann AG. DoCoMo's investment this month in KPN Mobile NV was seen by many analysts as a first step toward a joint bid for Orange.