NTT DoCoMo Acquires Stake In PacketVideo

NTT DoCoMo has acquired a 35% stake in NextWave Wireless' PacketVideo unit for $45.5 million, the firms announced Monday.

DoCoMo and PacketVideo have partnered for a decade in providing software and services for mobile multimedia and video technologies. DoCoMo and PacketVideo said the all-cash transaction will be used to strengthen DoCoMo's work in advanced music and video services in Japan.

"We are building on our unique and highly successful relationship with DoCoMo to further strengthen PacketVideo's position in developing the best in class media experience, regardless of format or platform," said James Brailean, PacketVideo's CEO, in a statement. Toshio Miki, an associate senior vice president at DoCoMo, noted that San Diego-based PacketVideo has long made important contributions to DoCoMo's mobile video technology.

PacketVideo's CORE multimedia pvPlayer has been incorporated into more than 90 DoCoMo handset models. Since 1998, the two companies have worked to incorporate multimedia applications in DoCoMo's FOMA mobile network services.

NextWave has been selling off much of its spectrum in recent months. In addition to the technology in its PacketVideo division, it has developed a mobile multicast and broadcast technology for WiMax operators. The platform, called MXtv, is compatible with the 802.16e standard.

The Japanese market for video on mobile phones is more advanced than the mobile phone video market in the US, but competition in Japan has been heating up as Apple's iPhone with its advanced video capabilities has begun to shake up the market there. In addition, other mobile video technologies are poised to compete for market share in the coming months.

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