Earlier this year, the UK also banned the use of Huawei’s equipment amid growing pressure from the US. This created a void which presented an opportunity for other companies to fill. European companies such as Ericsson and Nokia were seen as obvious options. Other companies such as Samsung were on the loop too.

However, in a Twitter post last week, the UK’s Department for International Trade said NEC would “support roll out of 5G in the UK.”

According to the UK government, British International Trade Secretary Liz Truss met with NEC Chairman Nobuhiro Endo during her visit to Japan to sign the trade pact and discussed the establishment of the firm’s hub for 5G-related businesses.

It is reported that UK-based telco O2 expanded its 5G network to 108 UK towns and cities in the country. The recent developments are in line with the telco’s vision of developing a national digital infrastructure that will help businesses as the UK emerges from the Covid-19 pandemic.

O2’s 5G services were first made available last year. In June 2020, the telco announced that its 5G services were available in 60 UK towns and cities, adding the likes of Aberdeen, Brighton and Oxford to the locations covered.

The post Japan’s NEC to support 5G progress in the UK appeared first on International Finance.

Currently, NTT holds a 66 percent stake in NTT Docomo. It is reported that NTT’s planned move to buy the remaining 34 percent stake in Docomo could become Japan’s biggest ever tender offer. According to industry experts, the move is also likely to yield to government pressure for aggressive price cuts on mobile fees.

NTT is expected to make a offer today and the whole deal is expected to cost around ¥4 trillion.

Jefferies analyst Atul Goyal wrote in a report, “Post-acquisition, Docomo will no longer be answerable to shareholders. If the government instructs it to cut prices, it will oblige. And then it will be just a matter of time that KDDI, SoftBank will follow.”

It is reported that Japan’s top three megabanks namely Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group, Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group and Mizuho Financial Group will be among the lists of banks that will extend loans to NTT for its potential acquisition of NTT Docomo.

Earlier this month, NTT acknowledged that around ¥18 million has been stolen from bank accounts linked to NTT Docomo’s emoney service.

In June, it was reported that NT will invest ¥64.5 billion in NEC Corp to accelerate its efforts to develop 5G wireless technology in the country. According to the deal, NTT bought a 4.8 percent stake in NEC as its main network equipment supplier hopes to crack the dominance of Huawei Technologies, Ericsson and Nokia in 5G network infrastructure.

The post Japan’s NTT to acquire 100% ownership of its telecom business appeared first on International Finance.