NTT DoCoMo to buy stake in Bangladeshi mobile operator

TOKYO: Japan's NTT DoCoMo Inc said Monday that it would pay 350 million dollars to buy a 30 percent stake in Bangladeshi mobile telephone operator TM International Ltd.

NTT DoCoMo, Japan's top cellphone operator, said it would buy the shares from the A.K. Khan Co group.

The Japanese company said it would participate in TM International's management and "actively draw on its expertise to enhance the company's business in the fast-growth Bangladeshi mobile telecommunications market."

Mobile phone subscriptions in Bangladesh soared by 58 percent in 2007, spurred by a price war among operators, according to industry figures.

The telecommunications sector has emerged as a key driver of the economy of Bangladesh, which is one of the world's poorest countries, with nearly 40 percent of its 144 million population surviving on less than a dollar day.