Google's search engine will be featured on NTT DoCoMo, giving it access to 48 million mobile Net users in Japan.DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile operator, said Thursday the tie-up on Internet searches, e-mail, and other services, will help it retain customers in a competitive market and raise ad revenue while cutting development costs.
The two companies, which also plan to launch a Linux-based mobile handset in Japan, aim to reap joint advertising revenue of $94.1 million (10 billion yen) "as soon as possible," they said, without disclosing how they plan to split revenues.
"Japan's mobile Internet services lead the world," DoCoMo senior Vice President Takeshi Natsuno said at a news conference. "It's no wonder that big U.S. companies are paying attention to Japan."
Google has already partnered with KDDI, Japan's No. 2 mobile phone company. DoCoMo and KDDI together control over 80 percent of Japan's mobile market.
Cheaper data-transmission charges are prompting mobile operators to team up with search engines, rather than developing content on their own.
Softbank, the No. 3 mobile phone company, works with Yahoo Japan, in which Softbank holds a 40 percent stake.
Under Thursday's agreement, DoCoMo handsets will provide Google search results for mobile and PC Websites via the top-page of its Internet portal site.
The two companies will discuss ways to make it easier for DoCoMo users to access Gmail, the video-sharing site YouTube, and Picasa Web albums, they said.
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