"We've focused on Europe and the United States in the past, but we think there's growth potential in the Asia Pacific," said Toshinari Kunieda, managing director of DoCoMo's global business unit, which handles overseas investments. In an interview, Kunieda said DoCoMo hoped to find a large partner that does not yet have a relationship with other Asian rivals such as Singapore Telecommunications Ltd and Britain's Vodafone Group Plc in markets that see a lot of Japanese travellers.
Such investments would help it increase its global roaming presence in addition to growing revenue. Kunieda declined to comment on specific discussions, but cited China, the Philippines, South Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan as Asian countries that are most travelled by Japanese.
"We would definitely like to partner with a Chinese operator at some point," said Kunieda, adding that the timing for such a deal would probably be after the Chinese government has selected the recipients of high-speed third-generation (3G) licences.