INTERVIEW: NTT Docomo Business Positive toward Acquisitions

Tokyo, July 1 (Jiji Press)–NTT Docomo Business Inc. plans to spend up to several hundred billion yen on acquisitions, Katsushige Kojima, president and CEO of the Japanese telecommunications company focusing on corporate clients, said in an interview. The company is constantly “looking at businesses linked to priority areas, such as artificial intelligence and the Internet of Things,” for potential acquisitions, he said. It has been seeking partners that would generate strong synergies, Kojima said. “We are considering (acquisitions) in parallel with investments and collaborations that will complement our capabilities,” he said. The firm changed its name from NTT Communications to the current one in July last year. “Our employees’ motivation has been increasing, while brand recognition (of the current company name) has yet to rise,” the CEO said. Efforts to beef up services to small and midsize firms are “producing considerable results while we are still halfway through the process,” Kojima said. While declining to say whether NTT Docomo Business has secured access to Claude Mythos, an advanced artificial intelligence model, he said, “There is no doubt that it is better to have countermeasures to threats.” END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]