DoCoMo buys more of PLDT

PHILIPPINES--Japan's NTT DoCoMo has raised its stake in Philippine Long Distance Telephone (PLDT), lifting the NTT group's overall holding in the Philippines' largest telecom company to 20 percent, according to a report from Reuters.

The share purchase allows DoCoMo to class PLDT as an equity-method affiliate and will likely boost DoCoMo's net profit next year by several billion yen, said DoCoMo spokesperson Shuichiro Ichikoshi, the report said.

DoCoMo, which controls more than half of Japan's mobile market, bought 12.53 million additional PLDT shares for 86.7 billion yen (US$760 million) since March 2007, raising its stake in PLDT to 13.3 percent from 6.7 percent.

The investment, bringing the NTT group's holdings in PLDT close to a 21 percent-limit previously agreed on, will help the Japanese company strengthen its partnerships in global roaming services and joint technological development, DoCoMo officials said.

Joel D. Pinaroc is a freelance IT writer based in the Philippines.