DOCOMO and Tata Group agree on Strategic alliance in India

Mumbai, Nov 14 (UNI) Japanese mobile operator NTT-DOCOM0 today said it will significantly help its partner Tata Teleservices to scale up its revenue in the non-voice segment, using company's rich experience in GSM and Value Added Service(VAS) segments.

DoCoMo, a leading Japanese mobile operator with market share of more than 50 per cent, generates more than 40 percent of average revenue per user (ARPU) from data services.

Addressing a joint press conference in Mumbai, Ryuji Yamada, CEO of the company, said, DoCoMo along with TTSL has plans to penetrate the Indian telecom market with advanced technology and develop new VAS offerings.

DOCOMO, which has an exposure to 3G services since 2001, is currently developing a next generation network to smoothen the migration to a 4G service offering ultra high speed communication.

'' Having DOCOMO as a strategic partner will enhance TTSL's ability to evaluate, introduce and manage next generation technologies,'' said Anil Sardana, Managing Director, TTSL.

Shares of Tata Teleservices Maharashtra, in which TTSL has more than 37 per cent stake, closed higher by 12.23 per cent at Rs 20.19 on BSE.

DOCOMO, along with Tata Sons Ltd, also made an open offer to buy 20 per cent stake in Tata Teleservices Maharashtra Ltd. at Rs 24.70 per share. The offer will open on Jan 8 and close on Jan 27.

Tata Sons has 20.72 per cent stake in TTML. Tata Teleservices and TTML have a combined customer base of over 30 million.

DOCOMO, listed on the Tokyo, London and New York stock exchanges, has over 53 million customers.

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