DDI Corp. President Yusai Okuyama said Thursday that the company would not make an additional investment in Iridium LLC, the financially troubled U.S. satellite telecommunications company. Okuyama also told a regular news conference that Nippon Iridium Corp., which provides satellite phone services in Japan, would be liquidated. The schedule of the liquidation has yet to be decided, he said. DDI will continue to provide the services for current satellite phone users after Nippon Iridium, which has 4,300 users, is liquidated, he said. Iridium filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in the United States last August due to weak demand for its services. At that time, DDI, a subsidiary of Kyocera Corp., was positive about further investment in Iridium, the world's first company to provide global cellular phone services with low-orbit satellites and ground phone networks. The DDI group has a 60.5 percent stake, including the parent firm's 35.7 percent, in Nippon Iridium, which is Iridium's second-largest shareholder, with 11.2 percent. However, DDI found it difficult to continue the business in Japan because Iridium is changing its target market from urban users to people in developing countries and geographically remote areas, Okuyama said. "Since more than 60 million people have (ground network) mobile phones in Japan, it is obvious that the satellite phone market is shrinking. It's difficult to make profits here," he said. DDI's reversal follows a news report that a group of investors involving telecommunications pioneer Craig McCaw has agreed to provide Iridium with $74.6 million in interim debtor-in-possession financing under certain conditions. Iridium has been following a restructuring plan.
