NTT DoCoMo, Japan's biggest mobile phone operator, will likely invest an additional $1 billion in India's Tata Teleservices, The Economic Times has reported.
DoCoMo's stake in Tata Teleservices, India's fifth-biggest mobile phone operator, is seen rising to 35-40 per cent from 26 per cent, the Indian business newspaper said, citing two people familiar with the deal, who added it will likely close in a few months.
A DoCoMo spokesman had no immediate comment.
DoCoMo first bought Tata shares in 2009, entering India's fast-growing but cut-throat mobile market as a saturated domestic market forced it to speed up expansion overseas.
DoCoMo controls about a half of the Japanese market and competes with KDDI Corp and Softbank Corp.
Tata Teleservices had 72.5 million mobile subscribers as of end-June, according to data from India's telecom regulator, and a company executive said this month that it had added another 2.5 million users in July.
Subscriber growth has been fuelled by its per-second billing system it launched in mid-2009, which also led rivals to start similar bill plans.
DoCoMo shares were down 0.1 per cent at 142,200 yen, outperforming a 2.3 per cent drop in the benchmark Nikkei average.