Motorola and DoCoMo announce 3G business phone tie-up

Japanese telco giant DoCoMo and the world's number two handset maker Motorola have signed a deal to produce 3G handsets together.

The handset, which will hit the market from spring next year an, will be compatible with GSM and GPRS and W-CDMA - pioneered in Japan by DoCoMo - networks. The agreement will also signal the development of the first FOMA (DoCoMo's 3G service) phone that can be used outside Japan.

The pair announced the phone will have Bluetooth capability and will be able to be used with DoCoMo's and other companies' Wi-Fi hot spots. The handset will also be based on the Symbian operating system.

DoCoMo now counts over 5 million users signed up to its FOMA service but, by targeting business users with the phone's international compatibility, will be able to expand both 3G and i-mode take-up by accessing new user segment.

Motorola has been ploughing resources into Asia and the Far East, with China in particular attracting attention from the handset maker. It's thought the deal will give Motorola a valuable foothold in the Japanese market.