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26 Sep 2005
Mobile service provider O2 will turn on the UK's first i-mode phone service next week.
I-mode is a proprietary mobile data system developed by NTT DoCoMo that allows 2G and 3G services to be transmitted to special handsets.
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Samsung and NEC will each have two handsets ready for the launch, ranging in price from £79 to £279, and more are planned.
"The i-mode experience in other countries shows that this new depth and breadth of content, combined with the speed and simplicity of use, leads to far higher customer usage," said Matthew Key, chief executive at O2.
"For example research has shown that seven out of 10 people who buy i-mode handsets use the service, compared to just three out of 10 who use the available Wap services on their handset, and those users access four times more content."
Standard internet pages cannot be viewed over an i-mode phone but over 100 companies will have i-mode pages ready for viewing at the launch, including Egg, Channel 4, BAA and Interflora.
To stimulate demand O2 is offering free content browsing and free content subscriptions on i-mode phones until the end of 2005. It is also offering free picture messaging and email until April next year.
"The success of i-mode in Japan is not a technology thing, but the philosophy behind it," said Andy Buss, senior analyst at Canalys.
"In Japan it's very easy to open websites and subscribe to services. Unless they have that in place in Europe this could be Wap mark two."
O2 also plans to launch a service in Ireland next week and in Germany in 2006.
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Why are they wasting their time and our money?
Think your comment is spot on. In addition to the different market mentioned there is also the recall by the some of all of the problems there was with the development of i-mode. I made the mega mistake of taking a 3 subscription on the promise of what it could do from some store clerk and not reading the small print a couple of years ago. Content was next to zero (Unless you like watching manufactured little boy and girl band ultra expensive pop videos). If I wanted to ensure my future as a mobile operator I'd be focused on providing full internet access by WiMAX and promoting data by regular 3G. Whilst the all-charge-exactly-the-same-price group of 4 operators may delay the day of VOIP and WiMAX a little they cannot stop it. So if they have sense they will not remain the ones with the finger in the dyke trying to stop the torrent - because when the dam bursts the person behind the wall gets annihilated. They'd be better riding the crest of the wave as the barrier goes down.
Posted by: Andy Miller 26 Sep 2005