NTT DoCoMo Inc. (9437.TO), Japan's largest mobile phone operator by subscribers, said Tuesday that it plans to sell a handset that uses Google Inc.'s (GOOG) Android operating system in Japan as early as next month to compete with Apple Inc.'s (APPL) iPhone offered by Softbank Corp.

The DoCoMo handset, equipped with a touch screen, is priced between Y25,000 and Y30,000 with the company's two-year installment plan.

-By Yuzo Yamaguchi, Dow Jones Newswires, +813 6895 7563; yuzo.yamaguchi@dowjones.com