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May 21, 2008
Apple Close to Finishing Negotiations with Asian Wireless Carriers
After extensive negotiations, Apple appears to be close to signing a deal with Asian wireless carriers NTT DoCoMo Inc. (Japan's leading mobile provider) and Korea Telecom Freetel.
According to Macworld UK, DoCoMo had reportedly begun inquiring after Apple regarding a role as an iPhone seller provider last December.
Officially, Apple has only said it would introduce the iPhone to Asia this year, but it has not specified countries or launch dates. Unofficially, it's clear from recent carrier announcements that at least two Asian markets - Singapore and the Philippines -- will be open to the iPhone before the end of the year.
DoCoMo currently boasts about 53 million subscribers, 44.4 million of these using its 3G-based network (a factor which lends credence to the prominent rumors that a 3G iPhone will be released in the near future). Korea Telecom Freetel has approximately 12 million subscribers to its name.
Stay tuned for further news as details emerge and let us know what you think over in the comments or forums.
Posted by chrisbarylick at May 21, 2008 8:23 AM
Category: iPhone
Tags: 2008, 3G, Apple, December, DoCoMo, iPhone, Japan, Korea Telecom Freetel, NTT, Philippines, Singapore, subscribers
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Comments
The whiff of a DoCoMo deal is actually something of a bummer --a partnership with Softbank, the other major carrier rumored to have been in the running, would have been a much better fit.
It's kind of like the partnership with AT&T: DoCoMo is the mobile division of (former) national phone monopoly NTT and can therefore claim top subscriber number simply because of large government and institutional contracts, but if you look at numbers of actual new subscribers, customer satisfaction, and pricing plans, you'll see that DoCoMo's getting their clock cleaned.
But then there's the unfortunate fact that the iPhone doesn't possess the one must-have feature of all hot phones in Japan today: the ability to receive and record free DTV "one seg" broadcasts and data streams. To really make the iPhone fly here, Apple would have to substantially alter the hardware of the iPhone just for the Japanese market --and sadly, that just doesn't seem very likely.
Posted by: kornball at May 21, 2008 7:07 PM
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