NTT DoCoMo Considering American Launch Next Year

Online newspaper Japan Today reports that Japanese megacarrier NTT DoCoMo is considering launching services in the US next year as a full service virtual operator leasing network capacity from either AT&T Mobility or T-Mobile, as DoCoMo has business relationships with both carriers in the US via their DoCoMo USA subsidiary.

Currently, NTT DoCoMo has a subdued presence in the US with locations in New York and Hawaii meant for travelling Japanese tourists and businesspeople needing assistance with handsets and roaming capabilities, with the bulk of their US visibility being limited to tradeshows such as CTIA.

DoCoMo was also a major investor in the former Legacy AT&T Wireless assisting with the deployment of 3G UMTS services in the US and deploying i-mode services on handsets via the mMode portal before the venture was dissolved in 2004, as AT&T Wireless was purchased by Cingular Wireless the same year which led to the shutdown of the AT&T Wireless UMTS network and was subsequently replaced by Cingular’s implementation beginning in 2005.

If DoCoMo is to launch service next year, its closest competitor would be KDDI America, which operates KDDI Mobile as a virtual operator on the Sprint network, offering rebranded Sprint phones and service tailored towards Japanese speaking tourists and residents.