i-channel Subscribers Exceed 15 Million

DoCoMo announced today that subscribers to their i-channel news service surpassed 15 million on January 3, 2008. The achievement came nine months after surpassing 10 million subscribers and two years and three months after the service’s launch (WWJ video). The monthly cost of the service is 150 yen and there is no extra charge for headlines sent to the subscriber phone’s standby screen, but packet charges apply when detailed content is viewed.

DoCoMo’s i-channel is a push service that automatically sends scrolling-text headlines to a phone’s standby screen. The headlines come from the i-channel site, which is arranged into five information channels: weather, news, sports & entertainment, horoscopes and recommended i-mode sites. By simply pushing the i-channel button on a compatible phone, the user can view detailed information about each headline.

NEC also announced today they will enable an i-channel style service for WIND in Italy.. details Here.

Tags: 3G, DoCoMo, i-mode, nec, video

Posted: 7 January 2008 | Filed: Content Providers, Japan Market | Feedback | Print |