Japan's DoCoMo has confirmed that it is in talks with several Middle-Eastern operators as it restarts its overseas investment foray. The companies include Qatar Telecom, Etisalat and Saudi Telecom, amongst others.

"We're interested in the Middle East and Africa," Toshinari Kunieda, senior vice-president of Global Business at DoCoMo, told Bloomberg news. "We're currently just chatting but I don't deny equity partnerships in the future."

"We're interested in the Middle East operators because they have invested in many operators in Africa or Central Asia," Kunieda said.

DoCoMo has stakes in operators in the Philippines, South Korea and recently took a minority stake in a Bangladeshi operator. The Japanese company also has investments in Guam, Malaysia and Singapore.

The company has not ruled out a possible investment in a Chinese operator should one be granted a WCDMA license.

DoCoMo memorably purchased a 16% stake in AT&T Wireless for US$9.8 billion in January 2001, but sold its stake to Cingular in 2004 for around US$6.6 billion, recording a loss of US$3.2 billion ove three years.

Source: Bloomberg