NTT DoCoMo and KT Freetel just announced that in November they will set up a venture fund in Korea to invest in promising mobile and IT firms. Through the fund, DoCoMo and KTF expect to identify promising companies for tie-ups in technology and other opportunities in the mobile and IT sectors. The fund will will operate for six years, with an option for a two-year extension, and will be managed by KTBnetwork Co., Ltd.
DoCoMo just announced that it has established an office in Hanoi, Vietnam in September 2007. DoCoMo will use the Hanoi office to enhance its information-gathering capabilities, explore potential business opportunities, and raise its profile among and strengthen relationships with government officials and corporate executives in the burgeoning Vietnamese market. This is the company’s fourth overseas office, joining existing facilities in Beijing, Shanghai and Singapore. The office, operated by a staff of four, will also have oversight for Laos and Cambodia.
Advanced M-Pay, the joint venture between the cellular operators AIS and NTT DoCoMo, is spending an additional 100 million baht to promote its mobile payment service, after registering faster-than-expected growth in mobile-to-mobile money refill service this year. The company also expects to earn a profit next year for the first time according to the Bangkok Post.
NEC has received orders for its Mobile Internet Platform (“NEMIP”) from Hutchison (HTHK), the largest 3G operator by subscribers in Hong Kong, which commenced i-mode services on May 30, 2007. This platform is an integrated solution composed of well integrated subsystems such as gateways, mail server systems and portal systems which incorporate multi-operator functions.
NTT DoCoMo has just announced that it will join the Gobi Fund II, a venture capital fund operated by Gobi Partners. The Fund will target companies in China working on the convergence of telecoms, media and technology within the IT and digital media sectors. Investment activities will begin this month. DoCoMo’s decision to enter the Gobi Fund II has been prompted in part by the successful performance of its investment in the Gobi Fund I in December 2003.
NEC has recently commenced a full-scale mobile WiMAX (16e) trial in Hualien city with Tatung, a major Taiwanese conglomerate company which runs manufacturing, sales of consumer-electronics and LCDs, as well as ISP business. This mobile WiMAX trial marks the first project to be conducted by NEC outside of Japan, and will continue until September, 2007. The trial was conducted as part of the “M-Taiwan” project being lead by the Taiwan. M-Taiwan is a national project to establish a networked information society and to cultivate IT-related industries in the domestic market.
