[Vodafone reported looking to get into the Japanese market where 3G and W-CDMA phones will first appear in efforts to position themselves better for the European market.]

by Michiyo Nakamotor and Bahan Rahman, Tokyo -- "Vodafone on Wednesday confirmed it would buy a 15 per cent stake in Japan Telecom for GBP249bn ($2.2bn) in cash, the second-largest foreign investment in Japan.

"The investment by the UK group in Japan's third-largest telecoms group, could shake up the Japanese mobile phone market, which has been dominated by NTT DoCoMo.

"It will increase Vodafone's presence in the Japanese market through its ability to influence management of J-Phone, one of Japan's fastest growing mobile phone operators and a subsidiary of JT.

"The investment also gives the UK group an advantage over western rivals in the development of third generation mobile phone services, in which Japanese carriers lead the world.

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