Japan’s largest telecoms firm NTT DoCoMo has bought a 35 percent stake in San Diego-based PacketVideo, a mobile video and music vendor which provides multimedia applications for DoCoMo’s ‘FOMA’ 3G network in Japan. DoCoMo will pay US$45.5 million for its stake in the company, which is a a subsidiary of NextWave Wireless. The partnership between the two firms stretches back to 1998 and PacketVideo’s multimedia player, pvPlayer, has been installed in more than 90 DoCoMo handsets to date. A Reuters report notes that the deal was made with an eye on the launch of DoCoMo’s next generation LTE network, scheduled for late next year.

In a statement, DoCoMo said that the all-cash transaction, which is effective immediately, is intended to strengthen its position in advanced music and video services in Japan. It notes that the partnership will “facilitate the efficient joint development of PacketVideo’s new technologies, ensuring a stable supply of increasingly advanced mobile applications technologies to DoCoMo.” PacketVideo CEO James Brailean commented: “We are building on our unique and highly successful relationship with DoCoMo to further strengthen PacketVideo’s position in developing the best in class media experience, regardless of format or platform.”