NTT DoCoMo Inc., Japan's largest mobile phone group, is negotiating to take a 10 percent to 20 percent equity stake in VoiceStream Wireless Corp., a U.S. mobile phone carrier, for several hundred billion yen, sources familiar with the deal said Tuesday.
NTT DoCoMo hopes that acquiring the stake will help it convince VoiceStream to adopt the W-CDMA mobile phone technology it is promoting with European carriers, the sources said.
NTT DoCoMo also plans to provide the knowhow for its popular i-mode service, which gives mobile phone owners wireless access to the Internet.
VoiceStream, established in 1994, has more than 2 million subscribers and is quoted on the Nasdaq stock market.
NTT DoCoMo is establishing partnerships with other mobile carriers around the world as a way to promote its new mobile technologies.
On May 9, the Tokyo-based company announced the acquisition of a major stake in KPN Mobile NV of the Netherlands, which followed an equity investment of 19 percent in Hutchison Telephone Co. of Hong Kong last December.
NTT DoCoMO is also reportedly in talks with South Korea's SK Telecom Co. to obtain a 10 percent to 20 percent equity stake in South Korea's biggest mobile phone company.