INTERVIEW-Japan's KDDI may invest more in WiMax venture

TOKYO, July 3 (Reuters) - KDDI Corp (9433.T), Japan's No.2 wireless operator, could invest more in a new WiMax venture as it hunts for market share in data services, its president said on Friday.

The company, which competes with sector leader NTT DoCoMo Inc (9437.T) and No.3 Softbank Corp (9984.T) in a saturated market, hopes demand for high-speed Internet downloads and uploads on the run will help expand its revenue streams over the long term.

Japan's first WiMax venture UQ Communications, set up by KDDI and investors such as Intel Corp (INTC.O) and Kyocera Corp (6971.T), began operations earlier this week to tap new demand.

"We think of UQ as part of KDDI," President Tadashi Onodera said in an interview. "We will of course invest more money if necessary."

In May, KDDI invested 30 billion yen ($312.5 million) in the Wimax venture, in which it also holds a one-third stake.

KDDI has been falling behind both rivals in winning new sign-ups less cancellations. It has been forced to slash handset prices by raising subsidies it pays out to phone makers, to battle rising inventory.

It also plans to launch a number of new handsets next year using Google Inc's (GOOG.O) Android operating software, Onodera said.

($1=95.98 Yen)

(Reporting by Mayumi Negishi and Reiji Murai)

((mayumi.negishi@thomsonreuters.com; +81-3-6441-1812; Reuters Messaging: mayumi.negishi.reuters.com@reuters.net))

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