Japanese telecom firm to buy Saipancell, Guamcell, HafaTel
Merger of three firms in the offing

By John Ravelo

Wednesday, March 22, 2006

NTT DoCoMo Inc., a Japan-based firm that claims to be the world's leading mobile communications company, will wholly acquire the companies operating Saipancell, Guamcell and HafaTel for a total of $71.8 million and merge the local companies.

The merger will combine both CDMA and GSM technologies in NTT's provision of services in the Marianas, with NTT disclosing plans of investing additional monies of up to $6.5 million to strengthen the merged company's facilities and infrastructure.

Guamcell/Saipancell provides CDMA service, while HafaTel relies on GSM technology, which allows subscribers to make use of subscriber identity module (SIM) or smart cards that are placed inside cellular phone units.

The planned acquisition and merger of the Guamcell/Saipancell and HafaTel came about months after Pacific Telecom Inc. acquired Verizon Micronesia from Micronesian Telecommunications Corp. for approximately $60 million. PTI's mobile services rely solely on CDMA technology.

NTT disclosed it has reached an agreement with Guam Cellular & Paging, Inc., the company operating Guamcell Communications and Saipancell Communications, as well as Guam Wireless Telephone Company, LLC, which operates HafaTel.

NTT said it put up a holding company in Guam, which will acquire Guamcell/Saipancell, subject to approval by regulatory agencies in Guam and the CNMI, including the Commonwealth Telecommunications Commission. It said the holding company would then acquire HafaTel and merge the two companies. Both will not take effect until all regulatory approvals are granted, which is not expected to take place for approximately six months.

"The acquisitions will enable DoCoMo to better serve many Japanese travelers who visit Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, and enable the islands' residents to benefit from DoCoMo's world-leading mobile technology," NTT said in a media statement.

"Such efforts will include, for example, enhancing the quality of GSM network and adding GPRS capability to launch packet roaming services. DoCoMo also aims to introduce a W-CDMA network for 3G services utilizing Guam Cellular's frequency band in the future," NTT said.

Guamcell/Saipancell welcomed this development, disclosing that the company's president, Mark Chamberlin, will be NTT's holding company's new chief executive officer.

"The acquisition is an exciting development for the Mariana Islands, as it will result in substantial capital investment aimed at bringing leading edge wireless infrastructure and technology to the market. NTT DoCoMo is committed to improving the wireless experience of both local subscribers and visiting DoCoMo customers," Chamberlin said in a media release.

Chamberlin and company chairman Phil Lyons said businesses and consumers stand to benefit substantially from the planned acquisition of Guamcell/Saipancell and its merger with HafaTel. "Guamcell is excited about the transaction and looks forward to delivering new products and technologies designed to ensure that Guam and the CNMI's communications experience is second to none."

"It's a great move. We'll be providing the customers on Saipan with more services," said Saipancell sales manager Jiashen Huang.

NTT claims to be the world's leading mobile communications company, serving more than 50 million customers. A publicly listed company in the Tokyo, New York and London stock exchanges, NTT said it has been expanding global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific and Europe, in addition to its existing wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe, North America and Asia.