Which Japanese telecom company had a $18.4 billion IPO in 1998?

The Japanese telecom company that had an approximately $18.4 billion IPO in 1998 was NTT DoCoMo. Its stock-market debut was one of the era’s largest offerings and reflected the explosive growth expected for mobile communications in Japan and around the world.

NTT DoCoMo was created in 1991 and took over NTT’s mobile operations in 1992. The company was originally known as NTT Mobile Communications Network, Inc.; the DoCoMo name became official in 2000. Although NTT DoCoMo was closely connected to NTT, the two were separate corporate entities, which is why NTT is not the best answer to this question.

The IPO occurred as cellular phones were evolving from voice devices into platforms for messaging and internet access. DoCoMo’s i-mode service, launched in 1999, became a major early mobile-internet success. KDDI and SoftBank were also major Japanese wireless competitors, but neither is the company identified with this 1998 mega-IPO.