DoCoMo to Sell Nokia 3G Phones

NTT DoCoMo will start selling Nokia Oyj phones as early as October, getting its second foreign handset maker after Motorola Inc. for its high-speed network. Nokia, the world’s largest mobile-phone maker, will produce a model for DoCoMo’s 3G network, which allows users to download music and video clips and access the Internet at a faster rate than older phones, Chief Financial Officer Yoshiaki Ugaki said in an interview in Tokyo yesterday.  

Ugaki didn’t provide details on the new Nokia model. Nokia, based in Espoo, Finland, had made phones for DoCoMo’s 2G network between 1995 and 2000, according to DoCoMo.”A new handset is great for DoCoMo, regardless of where they come from, given that KDDI has the strongest handsets in the market at the moment” said Natasha Chetwynd, who manages the equivalent of $572 million, including DoCoMo shares, at Britannic Asset Management in Glasgow, Scotland. “The foreign models already selling in the Japanese market aren’t that strong.” Continue