Tuesday morning Mobile Operator roundup

It’s time for a Mobile Operator roundup, and they have been busy since yesterday evening. Once again, rumours have exploded that Deutsche Telekom us considering a purchase of US operator Sprint. On the other side of the world, Australia’s massive operator Telstra has been ordered by the Government to break it’s operation up or face severe restrictions. And Russia’s MTS, Japans’ DoCoMo and UAE’s Etisalat all have news about sales and bids.

Mobile operator NTT DOCOMO pushes foreign expansion with German tender

Japanese mobile operator giant NTT DOCOMO is continuing its outwards push from its home market. Today, German mobile content distributor net mobile AG has announced that the operator intends to launch a tender to buy all outstanding shares. Almost immediately after this announcement, the value of net mobile shares shot up by over 30%

Mobile Operator news link round-up

There were just too many stories about mobile operators around today that I found interesting. I couldn’t possibly write about them all, so I’ve done a link round up! Enjoy.

NTT DoCoMo finishes catching up with Softbank, and overtakes

We noted at the start of July how NTT DoCoMo had been catching up on rival operator Softbank in terms of new subscriptions. DoCoMo, the Godzilla of the Japanese mobile operators, had been lagging behind the smaller, newer operator for 26 months straight. But a slash-and-burn policy for data charges seems to have brought the bigger company back out on top.

Japans mobile operator battle: NTT DoCoMo profits slide while Softbank continues to shine

NTT DoCoMo has released some details from it’s first quarter finances. The giant Japanese mobile operator says that it’s net profit dropped by 15.1% from the one year ago. NTT DoCoMo blames the slip on increased competition and saturation of its home market. And that competition takes its strongest form in rival operator Softbank - which has reported a net profit increase of 41%

NTT DoCoMo explains 4G mobile Internet push

NTT DoCoMo has been aggressively pushing towards a 2010 LTE launch. The Japanese giant claims it will have its 4G network in place in 2010, even its competitors wait and take a more cautious approach.

NTT DOCOMO wants to escape Japan for mobile growth

NTT DoCoMo is looking to invest in Asian carriers outside of Japan. This isn’t a surprise after the aggressive behaviour of the mobile operator this year, and it echoes the actions of South Korean mobile operator SK Telecom. They’ve even got the same reason for looking abroad: a mature, saturated market in their home country is slowing growth.

NTT DOCOMO reclaims ground against iPhone exclusive Softbank

In 2005, telecoms company Softbank bought out Vodafone Japan, giving it a foot in the mobile market. Since then NTT DOCOMO, Japans main operator, has been trailing Softbank for new sign-ups. With Softbanks exclusive iPhone deal in Japan, and recent iPhone 3G S launch, you might have expected that to continue. But this month NTT DOCOMO has closed the sign-up gap to within 500 customers.

NTT DOCOMO invests $45 million in mobile video

This morning mobile operator NTT DOCOMO announced that it has invested $45.5 million in mobile video. The Japanase giant used that money to buy 35% share in San Diego mobile video firm PacketVideo - which has been working with NTT DOCOMO since 1998.

Japanese/Indian mobile operator TATA DOCOMO expands aggressively

We recently announced the launch of TATA DOCOMO. The operator is a branch of Indian company Tata Teleservices, heavily funded by Japanese giant NTT DOCOMO. The entire purpose of TATA DOCOMO is to spread a GSM mobile network all across India. This week has see the venture launching in two separate Indian territories.

Mobile operator powerhouse announces campaign for Android OS mobile apps

Five members of the huge Conexus Mobile Alliance announced today that it is launching a campaign to drive development for Android mobile applications. The Conexus Mobile Alliance comprises some of Asia’s largest operators - the group declaring for Android today includes Japanese giant NTT DOCOMO, Indonesia’s Indosat, Far EasTone from Taiwan, Singapore’s StarHub and Truemove from Thailand

NTT DOCOMO launches popular comic franchises on European mobile devices

Japanese mobile giant NTT DOCOMO today announced that it will be distributing popular Japanese comics through a European branch, DOCOMO Netherlands. The mobile content is being launched in France today.

Japanese comics, better known as manga, are a hugely popular form of entertainment in their home country. They have also had a steadily growing audience in [...]

GoMo Buzzwatch: Tata Teleservices invests $2 billion is GSM network

Indian mobile operator Tata Teleservices has announced it will be investing $2 billion in a country-wide GSM network. The company already operates a CDMA network, but is switching away from the less popular architecture.

CDMA vs GSM? WTF?

To be honest, there’s not a huge functional difference between CDMA and GSM networks. There are proponents in both [...]

Mobile giant NTT Docomo announces plans for mobile cash transfer

Mobile banking and finance has walked a rocky road - while it’s a fantastically useful service, it has had to deal with massive trust issues from consumers. Japanse mobile operator NTT Docomo has announced it’s planning an incredibly simple banking service with Mizuho Bank, that will allow consumers to transfer money with just a mobile [...]

Mobile giants co-operate on Windows Mobile device, look to open OS for the future

Mobile operator powerhouses NTT DOCOMO and Telefónica announced a Windows Mobile device launch today, as part of future joint undertakings by the two operators. The device from Toshiba, which we covered back in Febraury, will be launched in Japan as the T-01A, and in Spain as the TG01 . It will arrive in both markets [...]

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