Japan’s largest mobile phone provider NTT DoCoMo Inc. will collaborate with Google Inc. in order to provide search and e-mail on its handsets, news reports said.

According to the Japanese newspaper, The Nikkei, which quoted unnamed sources within DoCoMo, apart from Google search and Gmail, the partnership will allow subscribers of NTT DoCoMo’s I-Mode wireless Internet network to use Google Calendar scheduler and Picasa photo-sharer.

The partnership brings benefits for both companies. For Google, the partnerships means providing access to DoCoMo’s 48 million users of “I-Mode” mobile phone Internet service in its trials to expand its presence in Japan, where Yahoo Japan Corp. leads the web search market. The alliance will also help NTT DoCoMo strengthen its competitiveness against local rivals KDDI Corp. and Softbank Mobile Corp.

The partnership may eventually lead to the development of new functions and handsets, according to the sources.

"We are currently studying the possibility of an alliance in search services with domestic or overseas partners, but nothing has been decided yet," DoCoMo spokesperson Hiroto Nakagawa said, according to Reuters.

Nomura Securities analyst Daisaku Masuno, said in a note to clients that Ntt’s move is expected to boost the company’s data traffic revenue as expansion in services should increase page views, Reuters reports.

The shares of the NTT rose 3.3 percent to 190,000 yen as of 10 a.m. on the Tokyo Stock exchange, its highest close since July 10. The Nikkei 225 Stock Average advanced 1.8 percent.