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The company's ordinary shares are trading on the LSE under the code NDCM, and it is also listing its ADS shares on the New York Stock Exchange at the commencement of trading on Friday. Its primary listing remains in Tokyo, where it has been listed since 1998 and as of the end of January 2002 had a market capitalisation of around YEN14 trillion (STG74.7 billion as of that date).
NTT DoCoMo is widely seen as the world's biggest innovator in mobile services, having helped transform the mobile phone to a personal data device with its popular I-mode service in Japan, where it has 40 million customers. The company already has more than 30,000 users signed up to its third-generation mobile service, which is currently being expanded and will be available in 90 percent of Japan's urban areas by the end of fiscal 2002.
The new listings will give several benefits to the company, including the fact that investors can now trade around the clock in NTT DoCoMo shares and do so using a local exchange. The listings will also help raise the company's profile among US and European investment houses, which should make it easier for DoCoMo to raise significant capital for expansion. The company said it also believes the listings will help support the development of global markets for its mobile multimedia services.
In Europe NTT DoCoMo holds a 15 percent equity stake in KPN Mobile and a 20 percent stake in Hutchison 3G in the UK. These partnerships will see KPN roll out I-mode services in Europe from this spring through its subsidiaries, KPN Mobile in the Netherlands, KPN Orange in Belgium and E-plus in Germany. In Britain Hutchison 3G UK is planning to launch a 3G service in the second half of 2002 in co-operation with DoCoMo.
"The listing on the LSE will broaden opportunities not only for further equity partnerships but also technical partnerships to enable DoCoMo to bring to Europe the full range of market-leading services and products that it offers in Japan," NTT DoCoMo said in a statement.
The company said it is also planning to bring I-mode and its 3G services to the United States through partnerships with local operators.
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