Internet giant Google may be set to partner with Japanese mobile carrier DoCoMo, it has been reported.Under the possible deal, the search engine provider would supply search and email services on DoCoMo's handsets.
Citing unnamed company sources, Reuters and the Japanese newspaper Nikkei stated that an agreement may eventually lead to the development of new functions and handsets.
According to the Nikkei, DoCoMo is interested in the development of a next-generation handset featuring Google's operating system.
Concerning the potential alliance, DoCoMo spokesman Hiroto Nakagawa stated: "We are currently studying the possibility of an alliance in search services with domestic or overseas partners, but nothing has been decided yet."
Spun off from Nippon Telegraph and Telephone in 1991, DoCoMo is a provider of mobile communications services and, by entering into a deal with it, Google would have access to its 48 million users of i-mode mobile phone internet services.
In a note to clients, Nomura Securities analyst Daisaku Masuno stated that the possible deal with Google is expected to bolster the company's data traffic revenue.
DoCoMo already has links with the search engine provider, having last month joined the Open Handset Alliance, a group of over 30 technology and mobile firms that have come together to develop Android.
An open and free mobile platform, Google describes Android as "a commitment to openness, a shared vision for the future and concrete plans to make the vision a reality".
