While Softbank is close to acquiring US’ Sprint Nextel, another Japanese operator – NTT Docomo – is revealing its overseas plans.
Kaoru Kato, the recently-appointed CEO of Japan’s largest mobile carrier, told the Financial Times that his company…
While Softbank is close to acquiring US’ Sprint Nextel, another Japanese operator – NTT Docomo – is revealing its overseas plans.
Kaoru Kato, the recently-appointed CEO of Japan’s largest mobile carrier, told the Financial Times that his company would consider looking abroad for telecoms assets “if a good opportunity arose”.
The group is mainly focussed on the Asia-Pacific region but will look into other markets, such as Europe, where it already has some investments, Kato said.
NTT Docomo, which operates in a saturated Japanese market where mobile penetration has reached over 110%, has a small number of subsidiaries abroad.
Some previous stake buys in foreign companies made during the dotcom bubble, including in Netherlands’s KPN, US-based AT&T and Hutchison UK, resulted in substantial losses on subsequent sales.
The Japanese operator is currently invested in Tata Docomo, India’s sixth-largest mobile operator out of 15, according to recent official figures.
Recent reports suggested that Russian conglomerate Sistema was in talks with NTT Docomo for its 26% stake in the Indian mobile JV, whose share price dropped almost 52% over the past year.
However, Kato told the FT that the group is not considering withdrawing from India despite potential difficulties because “the Indian mobile market is a very crowded market”.
In a recent SEC filing, Docomo did not disclose details about its non-domestic revenues but said “the amounts of operating revenues generated and long-lived assets owned outside Japan are immaterial.”
In the meantime closure of rival operator Softbank’s acquisition of US mobile operator Sprint for US$21.6bn is imminent. Softbank already has some assets abroad including in Chinese e-commerce company Alibaba.
Similar to the situation in Japan, South Korean telcos are also looking to expand overseas to boost their revenues. KT Corp has been mulling several asset purchases, particularly in Africa, and recently signed an agreement with the Rwandese government to establish a 4G joint venture in the country.
