BusinessWeek postulates an interesting theory in a recent article about Asian telecom carriers potentially angling for a presence in the U.S. market. The upcoming 700 Mhz auction is seen as a catalyst for this renewed interest in the U.S. market. Masaki Yoshikawa tells Businessweek.com, “Google is trying to acquire spectrum now. Maybe they will be looking for a partner for their network,” stressing that no talks have been held by the companies. “Perhaps we can be involved in the process.” joins other potentially interested Asian carriers, including , and . The potential investment from these carriers could have interesting implications on the U.S. telecom competitive landscape.

Asian carriers are no stranger to U.S. investment. NTT DoCoMo was a large investor in AT&T Wireless years ago, which they sold at a significant loss. South Korea’s SKTelecom partnered with Earthlink to launch , which they now control. The thinking is that Asian carriers bring a wealth of experience already in the future of the U.S. mobile wireless industry, namely data services. BusinessWeek reports that up to 90% of consumers in some Asian countries subscribe to wireless data plans, vs. 54% in the U.S., according to consultancy IDC. If Asian carriers bring that expertise to the U.S. through partnering with the likes of a Google or someone else, they may prove to be formidable competitors to existing U.S. market carriers. I’m certainly not suggesting a “slam dunk” with such an arrangement, but the possibilities do seem enticing.

Check out more insight on this at FierceWireless.

Join the Conversation

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Don’t Miss Any of Our Content

What’s happening with broadband and why is it important? Find out by subscribing to Telecompetitor’s newsletter today.

You have Successfully Subscribed!