NextWave buys into Japanese firm for TD-CDMA deployment

Wireless broadband provider NextWave Wireless Inc. has agreed to purchase a majority stake in Tokyo-based telecom company IPMobile.
Terms of the deal were not disclosed; NextWave is acquiring all the IPMobile shares held by Mori Trust Co. Ltd. of Japan. NextWave will have a 69.2% stake in IPMobile once the transaction, which is subject to government approvals, closes.
IPMobile received a nationwide spectrum concession in the 2 GHz frequency band in November 2005, and has been working with NextWave subsidiary IPWireless toward a November launch of a TD-CDMA wireless broadband network.
“Our investment is aimed at helping IPMobile accelerate its deployment of . 4G wireless broadband technology before the end of this year in Japan, one of the most advanced telecommunications markets in the world,” said NextWave chairman and CEO Allen Salmasi. “We intend to help IPMobile implement one of the first 4G wireless broadband network deployments that can provide speeds of up to 30 Mbps and support a wide variety of user applications, including bandwidth-intensive video streaming applications.”
Salmasi added that after the commercial network launches, NextWave plans to follow up with Japanese companies “in order to being new and exciting mass-consumer devices and applications to Japan’s marketplace.”
NextWave announced a major expansion of its U.S. network footprint earlier this week. The company is involved in a number of areas, including Wi-Fi and WiMAX.