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DoCoMo's Deal in Guam Challenged

DoCoMo’s proposed purchase of GUAMCELL and HafaTel is being opposed as it “presents a risk to national security.” A petition has been filed by Teleguam Holdings, but on the other hand Guam Governor Benigno R. Fitial has thrown “his full support” behind the plan saying that consumers stand to benefit from lower costs and better services. If the purchase went through DoCoMo would capture between 55% and 65% of combined market share on Guam for mobile radio and wireless phone services, according to the petition, filed with the US Federal Communications Commission.

NEC Enables Telefonica Mobile Services

NEC Corporation announced an agreement with Telefonica Moviles Espana, S.A. for delivery of its Liberty Enabled Proxy. The solution enables the introduction of an easy sign-on environment for multiple service access by end-users through a single authentication process over WAP and i-mode mobile Internet browsing. NEC’s Liberty Enabled Proxy, certified by Liberty Alliance through its conformance tests, enables terminal independent single sign-on services over WAP and i-mode. Without the proxy, special client software for mobile terminals is usually necessary to benefit from the Liberty single sign-on service.

DoCoMo Seeking 3G Partner in China

NTT DoCoMo may seek partners in China after the Chinese government issues licenses for high-speed networks to expand in the world’s biggest mobile phone market. One of the standards, called W- CDMA, is the same as the platform adopted by DoCoMo in Japan. “We have to see what kind of technology the operators will use,” Takeshi Natsuno, senior vice president of multimedia services at Tokyo-based DoCoMo, said in an interview broadcast today. “After that, we can decide what kind of strategic alliance we’re going to make.”

NTT DoCoMo finally needs Microsoft

One of WWJ’s long-time favorite mobile & tech media sites, The Register.co.uk, posted an item last week that stopped us short: “DoCoMo deal opens i-Mode world to Windows Media.”

The point that caught us was right in the opening graf (see if it grabs you too):

“Japanese giant NTT DoCoMo, a long standing Microsoft partner in the world of mobile entertainment, is to port Windows Media DRM (digital rights management) to its 3G handsets, allowing for content to be moved between phones and PCs, and bypassing the Open Mobile Alliance DRM.”

Like us, you probably didn’t need the red ink to highlight this article’s boggling assertion that NTT DoCoMo is a “long standing” Microsoft partner; while the two tech giants may not exactly hate each other, there’s been been little love lost as Microsoft has failed at every step of i-mode’s growth to establish any significant…

DoCoMo Making Moves in Hong Kong

Hutchison Telecommunications said it has formed a strategic partnership with NTT DoCoMo of Japan. An industry source familiar with the matter said the two companies are likely to launch mobile applications related to Hutchison Telecom’s 3G mobile platform in Hong Kong. A spokeswoman of Hutchison declined to give further details, but said the two companies will hold a press briefing on the partnership Thursday.

Web Update 1 June: It’s Official>>