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Technology Stocks : Qualcomm Moderated Thread - please read rules before posting -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: mightylakers who wrote (4022)	10/26/2000 10:46:15 PM
From: Sully-	Respond to of 196747

DoCoMo Considers VoiceStream Tie-Up to Spur Technology in U.S. 10/26/00 6:58:00 PM Source: Bloomberg News URL: cnetinvestor.com Tokyo, Oct. 27 (Bloomberg) -- NTT DoCoMo Inc., thwarted in an effort to buy VoiceStream Wireless Corp. three months ago, may form an alliance with the U.S. company to speed the adoption of DoCoMo technology in the U.S., DoCoMo's chief executive said. DoCoMo, Japan's largest cellular phone company, is the global leader in technology called W-CDMA that allows high-speed access to the Internet through cellular phones. Yet it hasn't managed to gain a foothold in the U.S. market. ''Our primary purpose for entering the U.S. market is to push W-CDMA,'' DoCoMo Chief Executive Keiji Tachikawa said in an interview. VoiceStream is the best potential partner because it offers national reach in the U.S. with a technology compatible with DoCoMo's, he said. DoCoMo wouldn't invest any money in VoiceStream, Tachikawa said. He didn't say whether it's currently in talks with the Bellevue, Washington-based company. VoiceStream officials didn't return phone calls seeking comment. By allying with DoCoMo, VoiceStream could gain a head start on other U.S. phone companies, which don't have the familiarity with advanced technology that DoCoMo does, an analyst said. Attractive Partner ''DoCoMo is an attractive company for VoiceStream because it has expertise in mobile Internet service,'' said Katsuaki Furutachi, senior fund manager for Asahi Life Asset Management Co. ''DoCoMo can teach that to them. That's a very significant appeal for foreign carriers.'' DoCoMo needs to penetrate the U.S. market to accomplish its goal of making W-CDMA, or wideband code division multiple access, technology the global standard for the so-called next generation of mobile phones. The company has more than 13.8 million customers in Japan for its 20 month-old i-mode mobile Internet service and is adding as many as 50,000 customers a day. It has 32.6 million cellular phone customers in all, 59 percent of Japan's total of 55.7 million. Deutsche Telekom AG may have something to say about any VoiceStream ties with DoCoMo. Europe's biggest phone company agreed to buy VoiceStream in July in an offer then worth $55.7 billion in cash, stock and assumed debt. Avoiding Cash Outlay Deutsche Telekom hopes to complete the acquisition early next year, though a slump in its stock price may threaten the transaction because the offer's value is now much lower. A Deutsche Telekom spokesman declined to comment. DoCoMo also was interested in VoiceStream, and Deutsche Telekom's winning bid was seen as a setback for the Japanese company. A tie-up as envisioned by Tachikawa would help DoCoMo achieve some of the benefits of an acquisition without having to lay out a lot of cash. ''Our purpose of overseas expansion is not to control our partners, but to prosper together,'' said Tachikawa. ''That means we don't necessarily have to inject money in VoiceStream to tie up.'' DoCoMo's stance on VoiceStream diverges from its previous strategy for international expansion. It has been acquiring minority stakes in foreign partners, such as KPN Mobile NV, the largest Dutch cellular phone company. Investor Concern That approach hasn't been embraced by investors, who are concerned that DoCoMo isn't gaining enough in return for its stakes. DoCoMo shares have dropped 20 percent since it announced in May it was buying a 15 percent stake in KPN Mobile for $4.5 billion, DoCoMo's biggest overseas investment. The shares have fallen 25 percent this year, compared with an 18 percent decline in the Topix index of all shares on the Tokyo Stock Exchange's first section. ''DoCoMo wants to avoid capital injections in other carriers if possible because it is aware of the downside of foreign investment: the stock may fall,'' said fund manager Furutachi. DoCoMo has said it also is considering alliances with operators including AT&T Wireless Group, Sprint Corp.'s wireless telephone unit, mobile phone units of SBC Communications Corp. and BellSouth Corp. Those companies also may use W-CDMA technology for high- speed cellular phones. U.S. operators may begin introducing W-CDMA by 2003, after the allocation of new radio spectrum, Tachikawa said. Ö¿Ö