A1c
27-11-2004, 12:32 PM
From The Financial Times (27/11/2004):
NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile phone company, will announce an agreement next week for UK operator MMO2 to offer its i-mode services in the UK next year, according to people close to the deal.
The agreement will give i-mode, DoCoMo's popular internet access service, a presence in one of Europe's most important markets, where DoCoMo had been trying for several months to find a partner after ending its alliance with Hutchison 3G.
DoCoMo had taken a stake in Hutchison 3G with the aim of expanding i-mode in the UK as a 3G service. But it sold its shares back this year after Hutchison declined to develop i-mode as a business.
DoCoMo has been keen to expand i-mode outside Japan, where it has 42m users. It has tied up with carriers in 10 other countries, including E-Plus in Germany, Bouygues in France and Telefónica Moviles in Spain. The UK had been a major gap in DoCoMo's European strategy.
For MMO2, an i-mode deal would allow it to significantly ramp up its content offering as it prepares for a 3G launch next year.
Some analysts believe that smaller operators such as MMO2 are turning to data services alliances such as i-mode in an effort to compete with the major operators such as Vodafone, which are able to negotiate better deals on content because of their bigger global footprints.
DoCoMo officials could not confirm an announcement was pending.
"We believe it is important to start i-mode in the UK but nothing has been decided yet," DoCoMo said yesterday.
In Japan, i-mode, which allows users to send e-mail, play online games and access designated websites, quickly caught on among consumers after its launch in 1999 and was instrumental in boosting internet use among young people.
In Europe, where mobile phone manufacturers are extremely influential, the lack of handsets supporting i-mode has hampered its adoption. DoCoMo has also struggled in Europe against Vodafone's similar but more popular service, Vodafone Live!
Although i-mode has been offered in Europe since 2002, at the end of June there were only an estimated 3m users.
So far, the biggest markets for i-mode in Europe have been France and Germany, with 800,000 and 850,000 subscribers respectively at the latest count.
However, Germany could become a problem for DoCoMo since MMO2, which has a presence there, would be competing in that market against DoCoMo's current partner, E-Plus.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4c1101b2-3f52-11d9-8198-00000e2511c8.html
NTT DoCoMo, Japan's largest mobile phone company, will announce an agreement next week for UK operator MMO2 to offer its i-mode services in the UK next year, according to people close to the deal.
The agreement will give i-mode, DoCoMo's popular internet access service, a presence in one of Europe's most important markets, where DoCoMo had been trying for several months to find a partner after ending its alliance with Hutchison 3G.
DoCoMo had taken a stake in Hutchison 3G with the aim of expanding i-mode in the UK as a 3G service. But it sold its shares back this year after Hutchison declined to develop i-mode as a business.
DoCoMo has been keen to expand i-mode outside Japan, where it has 42m users. It has tied up with carriers in 10 other countries, including E-Plus in Germany, Bouygues in France and Telefónica Moviles in Spain. The UK had been a major gap in DoCoMo's European strategy.
For MMO2, an i-mode deal would allow it to significantly ramp up its content offering as it prepares for a 3G launch next year.
Some analysts believe that smaller operators such as MMO2 are turning to data services alliances such as i-mode in an effort to compete with the major operators such as Vodafone, which are able to negotiate better deals on content because of their bigger global footprints.
DoCoMo officials could not confirm an announcement was pending.
"We believe it is important to start i-mode in the UK but nothing has been decided yet," DoCoMo said yesterday.
In Japan, i-mode, which allows users to send e-mail, play online games and access designated websites, quickly caught on among consumers after its launch in 1999 and was instrumental in boosting internet use among young people.
In Europe, where mobile phone manufacturers are extremely influential, the lack of handsets supporting i-mode has hampered its adoption. DoCoMo has also struggled in Europe against Vodafone's similar but more popular service, Vodafone Live!
Although i-mode has been offered in Europe since 2002, at the end of June there were only an estimated 3m users.
So far, the biggest markets for i-mode in Europe have been France and Germany, with 800,000 and 850,000 subscribers respectively at the latest count.
However, Germany could become a problem for DoCoMo since MMO2, which has a presence there, would be competing in that market against DoCoMo's current partner, E-Plus.
http://news.ft.com/cms/s/4c1101b2-3f52-11d9-8198-00000e2511c8.html