Vodafone aims to be big in Japan

NEWS According to a report in the Financial Times, the UK mobile giant is negotiating to buy AT&T's stake in the Japanese firm. Should the deal go through, Vodafone will own 25 per cent of Japan Telecom - compared to BT's 20 per cent stake. Japan is the second biggest telecommunications market in the world. Nokia has struck out at the pessimism surrounding the future of the third generation mobile technology. Mobile and fixed-line operators have had a torrid year on the world's exchanges as market and analyst confidence in next generation 3G technology has plunged. Speaking in a series of interviews in Helsinki, Nokia chiefs have been quick to dismiss the problems and insist the market is still experiencing significant growth. Nokia, the world's largest handset manufacturer, predicts it will sell 500 million phones in 2001. Qualcomm, which developed the W-CDMA, or UMTS, mobile technology last week warned that an industry standard could be up to two years late. And finally, Autonomy is facing further scrutiny from investors after a rollercoaster ride on the FTSE-100 index this year. According to the FT, the company's customers have voiced concern over future software development as well as the threat of competition. Last week, venture capitalists Apax Partners - one of Autonomy's first backers - sold its remaining interests in the company, a move which wiped 10 per cent off Autonomy's market cap.
Autonomy reached an all-time high of £4.4bn when it debuted on the London Stock Exchange last November; this morning it was worth £1.89bn.