AT&T Wireless and Japanese wireless giant NTT
DoCoMo said Monday that they have started
implementing their previously announced alliance to develop third generation multimedia services on high-speed networks.
The most visible part of that alliance was the
acquisition by DoCoMo of a 16 percent stake in AT&T
Wireless for $9.8 billion. To that end, DoCoMo has
acquired about 406 million shares of AT&T preferred
tracking stock. DoCoMo also has acquired warrants to
purchase additional shares. The stock will convert to
AT&T Wireless common shares when the wireless unit is
spun off from AT&T later this year.
The transaction means that AT&T still owns about 70
percent of AT&T Wireless. About 17 percent of AT&T
Wireless is represented by the tracking stock. DoCoMo
now has a seat on AT&T’s board of directors until the
spin-off. Then, it will have a seat on the wireless
company’s board.
In addition to the stock transfer, AT&T Wireless said it
is creating a wholly-owned subsidiary to develop
multimedia applications for its current wireless network
and for forthcoming third-generation (3G) networks.