Vodafone to keep 3 Japan Telecom board members, no plan to expand stake yet(upda

TOKYO (AFX-ASIA) - Vodafone Group PLC chief executive Chris Gent said the company does not plan to expand its representation at Japan Telecom Co Ltd beyond the current three board members as management should remain Japanese.	    In addition, Gent said the company does not plan to further expand its stake in the Japanese fixed-line and mobile phone operator for the time being, although he did not rule out this possibility in the future.	    The UK-based firm will focus on developing the mobile phone business in Japan, which is growing rapidly, although there are no plans to offload the fixed-line business, he added. 	    Earlier, Vodafone said it will take additional 20 pct stakes in both Japan Telecom and J-Phone Communications from British Telecommunications PLC, with the acquisitions to be completed by July.	    In addition, Vodafone will take stakes of around 4.9 pct in J-Phone Communications' regional units from BT, with completion scheduled for August.	    The company will pay some 3.7 bln stg for the stakes.	    "Japan Telecom and J-Phone need to be Japanese-led companies," Gent said, noting Vodafone's worldwide strategy of allowing local affiliates to be managed by local people. "It is also in the interest of our local customers."	    In addition, Vodafone has no intention of further increasing its stake in Japan Telecom at present.	    "We see no particular need to raise our stake further but, if we do it, it will be carried out by mutual agreement," Gent said, adding that Vodafone will support Japan Telecom if if decides to list its mobile phone subsidiaries.	    Initially, Vodafone will focus on the mobile phone business, he said.	    "The mobile phone market in Japan is growing faster than Western Europe. In addition, mobile internet users in Japan are almost a quarter of the population."	    However, Vodafone has no plan at present to sell the fixed-line operations.	    "We need to provide balanced services for customers' interest," Gent said.	    "Japan Telecom and J-Phone are alternatives to (the dominant fixed and mobile phone operators) NTT and NTT DoCoMo. We need to have a balance of services." 	    DoCoMo has around 60 pct market share of the domestic mobile phone service, with J-Phone holding only around 16 pct. 	    However, Gent said Japan Telecom's mobile internet service, J-Sky, can put pressure on DoCoMo's rival i-mode service, adding: "Do not underestimate the J-Sky services. J-Sky has been making good progress."	    He added that DoCoMo is way behind Vodafone in the global market.	    "DoCoMo is way behind in international services. We have a good position in Europe and China. DoCoMo has a long way to catch up," he said.	    Japan Telecom chairman Koichi Sakata said the company will expand individual and corporate J-Sky services after the acquisition and will continue to cooperate with BT.	    "We would like to develop content with Vodafone," he said. "After the acquisition, we will strengthen our brand further." 

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