3's not much of a crowd as DoCoMo considers split

Flagship UK third-generation operator 3 could be about to lose a powerful supporter in the shape of Japanese giant and 20 per cent owner DoCoMo.

DoCoMo is reportedly unimpressed by the returns it's been receiving from its £930m investment in 3 due to the company's low subscriber figures in the UK, as well as the 3G company's refusal to adopt DoCoMo's i-mode data-services platform.

Fuelling the rumours of the split is DoCoMo's flirtation with the UK's smallest mobile company, mm02, after the collapse of a merger bid by Dutch operator KPN. DoCoMo's head honcho, Keiji Tachikawa, was quoted in the FT as saying DoCoMo "will do business with anyone that will do i-mode," adding that there would have to be talks with 3.

While 3 is toeing the party line - a spokesman told silicon.com that "the relationship between Hutchison and DoCoMo is fine and it's business as usual" - according to reports, the relationship is all but over except for the dotting of i's and crossing of t's.

Jeremy Green, principal analyst at Ovum said that he didn't foresee huge shockwaves as a result of a possible split. "The problem isn't that DoCoMo wants to sell [its stake], it's that no one will want to buy it…I can't see anyone in particular wanting to buy into 3 – DoCoMo could be stuck with it," he told silicon.com.

The pattern of events might seem all too familiar to Hutchison. KPN flogged its stake in the 3G mobile operator back to Hutchison before putting in its bid for BT spin-off mm02.

3 finally looks to be putting an end to its handset woes, however, with the release of three new phones this week from NEC and Motorola, and is doing brisk trade following the launch last week of its pre-pay service.