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

To: slacker711 who wrote (49182)	12/12/2005 11:27:36 PM
From: slacker711	Respond to of 197222

This seems like an odd pairing. I cant imagine the Korean government will easily allow imode or any of Docomo's other initiatives to gain a foothold in Korea. today.reuters.com UPDATE 1-Japan's DoCoMo to invest in Korea's KTF-sources Tuesday 13 December 2005, 10:48pm EST Printer Friendly \| Email Article \| Reprints \| RSS (Adds details, company comments) TOKYO, Dec 13 (Reuters) - NTT DoCoMo Inc. (9437.T: Quote, Profile, Research), is in final talks to buy a 10 percent stake in South Korea's KTF Co. Ltd. (032390.KS: Quote, Profile, Research) for 50-60 billion yen ($420-500 million) as Japan's top mobile carrier seeks new avenues of growth, industry sources said on Tuesday. The sources told Reuters the deal could be announced as early as this week. A 10 percent stake is equal to about 18.4 million shares of KTF's outstanding shares, or 447.1 billion won ($434 million) worth based on its closing price of 24,300 won on Monday. A DoCoMo spokesman declined to comment. At a news conference about its corporate strategy, Nam Joong-Soo, chief executive of South Korea's top fixed-line and broadband operator KT Corp. (030200.KS: Quote, Profile, Research), which owns 48.7 percent of KTF, said, "no comment for now." The two companies have been rumoured to be in talks in the past, and analysts say a tie-up could make sense given strong trade ties and active tourism between Japan and South Korea. Both the chief executives of DoCoMo and its parent, Nippon Telegraph and Telephone Corp. (9432.T: Quote, Profile, Research), have said they would consider investing in an Asian operator looking to move to a high-speed third-generation (3G) network based on the same W-CDMA standard that it uses. KTF spent 1.3 trillion won ($1.3 billion) for a licence to offer W-CDMA services in December 2000, but it has yet to start a service. DoCoMo is seeking new avenues of growth amid tough competition in the Japan market. Things are expected to get tougher as a government rule next year makes it easier for users to switch operators, and three new mobile entrants start services in coming years. The deal with KTF would be DoCoMo's first major investment in an overseas operator since it pulled out of interests in companies such as AT&T Wireless Services Inc., Dutch operator KPN Mobile N.V. and Hutchison 3G UK Holdings Ltd. (3UK). DoCoMo spent nearly 1.9 trillion yen in the past decade to buy small stakes in operators around the world to promote the use of its i-mode mobile Internet technology and ensure the adoption of W-CDMA. Shares of DoCoMo were down 0.5 percent at 183,000 at the midday break, slightly underperforming Tokyo's information and communications index (.ICOMS.T: Quote, Profile, Research), which fell 0.08 percent. Shares of KTF rose 2.3 percent to 24,850 won while shares of KT were virtually unchanged at 42,000 won. ($1=119.76 Yen) ($1=1030.0 Won)