DoCoMo Pres. Seeks UK Partner for 3G

NTT DoCoMo Inc. President Masao Nakamura will seek an alliance with a UK partner that doesn’t require an equity investment to promote its i-mode wireless Internet technology, after selling its stake in Hutchison 3G UK. Note that this approach tightly mirrors DoCoMo’s earlier move into France (where i-mode has become a quiet success) and more recently into Australia. Big D no longer has to wave their cash club — they just have to offer a conduit to made-in-Japan 3G cellys.

“An equity alliance with any mobile carrier will cost a huge amount and we have learned that equity interest doesn’t give us much in return,” Nakamura said in an interview at DoCoMo headquarters in Tokyo. The sale of its interest in Hutchison 3G UK “leaves a hole in our coverage, and probably, we will seek a technical alliance there,” he said. Read full story Here.