NTT DoCoMo in European tie-up

NTT DoCoMo: Second only to Vodafone

Japan's NTT DoCoMo is to license its successful high-speed image transmission technology to mobile phone operators in Europe.

The phone giant has signed a deal with the Netherlands' KPN Mobile, Belgium's KPN Orange and Germany's E-Plus, the first time it has licensed technology to foreign companies.

KPN was the natural partner for DoCoMo. The Japanese firm holds a 15% stake in the Dutch company.

The three companies plan to use the technology to transmit and receive images via cell phones from September, a NTT DoCoMo spokesman said.

'Snapmail'

In the race to lead the market for new phone services, DoCoMo is keen to spread its hugely popular technology - used in the i-Mode service - abroad, especially to Europe.

DoCoMo is currently the world's second biggest cellular phone firm, behind the market leader Vodafone of the UK.

KPN Mobile has said it will undertake its first joint project with DoCoMo next month, when it introduces a digital camera that can e-mail pictures to mobile phones - called "Snapmail".

With the technology, KPN Mobile then hopes to jointly launch other mobile data services in Europe.

DoCoMo plans to launch third generation as a fully-fledged commercial service in Japan from October, making the country the pioneer for 3G.