NTT Docomo’s venture arm invested an undisclosed amount in dhost Global, a neutral host service provider with operations in Southeast Asia, to support its expansion and development of services delivering coverage to large indoor facilities.

Dhost installs indoor antenna equipment for mobile operators across the region, where it noted there is a high demand for deploying indoor communication networks, alongside operating and maintaining the equipment for customers.

Among its deployments, the company claims to own the largest number of indoor equipment and installation locations in Indonesia. Its subsidiary in that country acquired 850 indoor infrastructure sharing sites from Telekomsel in July and 633 sites from Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison in early 2023.

It also has subsidiaries in Singapore and the Philippines.

The funding was made by NTT Docomo Ventures and follows an investment in Japan-based Sofia, a maker of smart rings, in June.