NTT DoCoMo, Inc. (a subsidiary of
NTT) is
Japan's largest
mobile communications operator. DoCoMo had more than
30
million subscribers as of
May 2000. The company also has subsidiaries in the
U.S.,
France
and
Brazil and is listed in the
TSE - the
Tokyo Stock Exchange. NTT DoCoMo Inc, offers a
popular
cellular phone service in Japan. To this they have added a technology called "
i-mode"
which allows cell phone users to connect to the
Internet. I-mode was launched on February
22nd, 1999; on August 6th, 2000 DoCoMo reported that the number of subscribers to the service
topped 10 million.
NTT DoCoMo Inc has been very successful with their
Japanese customer-base, but they are already
looking at branching out and growing their
business. As of July 2000, they started offering
English content through their
I-mode portal, to accommodate
International visitors to Japan,
but this is only a first step at globalizing their cellular and I-mode services.
In January 2001, DoCoMo began aggressively making deals to grow their business into Europe and
the United States.
First DoCoMo formed a Pan-European Mobile Internet Alliance with KPN Mobile NV, based in The
Hague, The Netherlands and Telecom Italia Mobile, based in Rome, Italy. This alliance is going
to rollout DoCoMo's I-mode technology to KPN and TIM's market in Belgium, Germany, Italy and
The Netherlands. This collective co-operation will give DoCoMo a foothold in the European
market, so they are not limited to Japan.
DoCoMo also began marketing a dual-mode phone, which uses NTT DoCoMo's PDC network in Japan
and the GSM digital mobile communications system available in Europe, Asia, Africa and
Oceania.
On Jan. 22 DoCoMo completed a payment of approx. US$9.8 billion to purchase a 16% stake
in AT&T Wireless stock and received a seat on AT&T's board of directors. This alliance
will work much like the pan-European scheme. AT&T's wireless nationwide network infrastructure
will be used to transport DoCoMo's I-mode service. This is not a licensing deal, AT&T and
DoCoMo will be working jointly with this project. A new company is going to be formed as a
result of this deal, and both companies will share technical resources and support staffing.
This arrangement will also help in promoting DoCoMo's W-CDMA technology in North America and
DoCoMo will use its partnership with AT&T to further it's International cellular roaming
capabilities into the United States.
Stock Information
I do not think that the Tokyo Stock Exchange publishes individual stock quotes on their
website. However, DoCoMo's site publishes its annual and semi-annual financial reports.
Shareholder's Equity per
share the previous year ended March 31, 2000 was valued at 202,122.90 yen ($2653.22 CAN).
As of September 30, 2000 the Shareholder Equity per share is 224,330.66 yen ($2944.73 CAN).
In all other areas, they are exceeding the previous year. They are even exceeding the previous
year in some yearly cumulative values.