Wind to Launch 3G on i-mode’s Success

Wind is Italy’s 3rd largest mobile player, with a 16% market share gained in just three years from launch of its mobile service. Wind also runs Italy’s most successful internet Portal (Italia On Line) and is the Italian largest Internet Service Provider (ISP). Wind launched i-mode™, on 28th November 2003 following the signing of the agreement with DoCoMo in June 2002. The partnership between Wind and NTT DoCoMo is a five-year agreement and is exclusive for 4 years for 2G and 3G in Italy.

The 3G i-mode launch puts Wind in a strong position for an initial public offering in 2005, Tommaso Pompei, chief executive of the company owned by state- controlled power giant Enel SpA (EN), told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview.

“i-mode is a technology which governs the relationship between the final user, the network operator and the content provider and can interconnect with every platform,” Pompei said. “Six months after the launch of i-mode on GSM in Italy we have more than 200, 000 clients with an average revenue per user of €7,” Continue >>