TOKYO—Talks between Korea’s SK Telecom and Japan’s NTT DoCoMo have stalled without signs of moving forward, according to international press reports. The talks have been ongoing for more than a y ear and would involve DoCoMo taking a stake in SK Telecom of about 14. 5 percent.
An agreement has not been reached because of a lack of consensus on a price, press reports said. In addition, NTT DoCoMo is reportedly concerned about SK Telecom’s wideband-CDMA (W-CDMA) rollout plans. SK Telecom has a W-CDMA license from the government, but has launched cdma2000 1x service, a rival technology.
NTT DoCoMo has invested in several carriers around the world, including KPN Mobile in the Netherlands and AT&T Wireless in the United States, based on their plans to roll out W-CDMA service. Japan and Korea will jointly host the World Cup series in 2002, and an agreement between the two carriers would benefit consumers traveling between the two countries.
