NTT DoCoMo snaps up MCV Broadband

Japan’s NTT DoCoMo, which owns Guam-based telecoms operator DoCoMo Pacific, has agreed to buy cableco MCV Broadband, reports Pacific Daily News. The Japanese firm will acquire MCV Broadband, a supplier of cable television, telephony and high speed internet services in Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI), from private equity firm Seaport Capital, which earlier this month was reported to be reviewing offers from three potential buyers. ‘We have signed an agreement with MCV shareholders to acquire MCV Guam Holding Corp.,’ said Eijun Tanaka, public relations manager for NTT DoCoMo, in an emailed statement, adding: ‘We are planning to release more information following the Federal Communication Commission’s (FCC’s) approval.’ NTT DoCoMo entered the local telecoms market in 2006, after agreeing to acquire two Guam-based mobile networks, Guamcell Communications and GSM operator Guam Wireless Telephone Company (HafaTel), for USD71.8 million, TeleGeography’s GlobalComms Database states. The acquisition was completed in December 2006 and the pair were subsequently merged under the Guamcell Communications brand. In October 2008 NTT DoCoMo announced that it had renamed its Guam subsidiary DoCoMo Pacific; today the combined entity is the island’s leading mobile operator by subscribers.