INTERVIEW-KDDI eyes WiMax investment as growth stalls
* KDDI president says may invest more in new WiMax venture
* Sees voice ARPU falling for 1-2 years
* Likely to supply several Android phones next year
* Shares down 1.2 pct vs Nikkei's 0.6 pct fall
By Mayumi Negishi and Reiji Murai
TOKYO, July 3 (Reuters) - KDDI Corp (9433.T: Quote, Profile, Research), Japan's No. 2 wireless operator, could invest more in a new WiMax venture in its hunt for new revenues as growth in its voice services slows and it waits to launch LTE technology, its president said.
The company, which competes with sector leader NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T: Quote, Profile, Research) and No. 3 Softbank Corp (9984.T: Quote, Profile, Research) in a saturated market, hopes demand for high-speed Internet downloads and uploads will help expand its user base.
Japan's first WiMax venture UQ Communications, set up by KDDI and investors such as Intel Corp (INTC.O: Quote, Profile, Research) and Kyocera Corp (6971.T: Quote, Profile, Research), began operations earlier this week to tap new demand. KDDI in May invested 30 billion yen ($312.5 million) in the venture, in which it holds a one-third stake. Continued...
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