DoCoMo ready to enter U.S. market in 2010

NEW YORK (Kyodo) NTT DoCoMo Inc. is planning to make a foray into the U.S. mobile phone market next year, offering smart phones and other high-performance handsets featuring its i-mode Internet service, sources said Friday.

The move would be DoCoMo's first attempt to launch its brand in an overseas market.

Initially, the nation's top mobile phone company may start out as a mobile virtual network operator, leasing capacity from a major cell phone service provider in the United States, the sources said.

If DoCoMo opts to start this way, it would likely lease infrastructure from AT&T Inc. or T-Mobile USA Inc., which has ties with DoCoMo's U.S. unit, the sources said.

DoCoMo provides limited services in the United States but is forming capital and business ties with local service providers.

Its plan to fully enter the U.S. market is based on smart phones, which remain highly popular there despite the recession, thanks to the 2007 introduction of Apple Inc.'s iPhone, they said.

DoCoMo also launched a support desk in New York on Friday to deal with technical troubles Japanese in the U.S. may be having.