Tokyo-based mobile communications provider NTT DoCoMo Inc. has announced that the company will acquire Guam Cellular & Paging Inc. (Guam Cellular) and Guam Wireless Telephone Company LLC (Guam Wireless) for the total amount of $71.8 million.
Both companies provide mobile services in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The acquisitions will be finalized as soon as approval is received from U.S. regulatory authorities overseeing communication services in these territories, DoCoMo said.
DoCoMo will establish a holding company to acquire 100 percent of the shares of Guam Cellular. It will then acquire the business of Guam Wireless through Guam Cellular and merge the two companies. DoCoMo said it will also provide additional funds up to approximately $6.5 million to strengthen the newly merged company's facilities and infrastructure.
Through the acquisitions DoCoMo hopes to better serve Japanese travelers who visit Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, as well as provide more advanced mobile technology to the islands' residents. Such efforts will include, for example, enhancing the quality of GSM network and adding GPRS capability to launch packet roaming services, DoCoMo said. The company also aims to introduce a W-CDMA network for 3G services utilizing Guam Cellular's frequency band.
Guam Cellular provides a CDMA service under the Guamcell Communications and Saipancell Communications brands. Guam Wireless, which provides a GSM service under the HafaTEL brand, is DoCoMo's roaming partner in the two territories.
