European Market
European Market

European Market

NEC's Mobile Internet Platform and i-mode Mobile Handset N341i

NEC Corporation announced today that its mobile internet Platform and i-mode(TM) mobile handset commenced operation at Telefonica Moviles Espana (TME)’s “e-mocion” service started from June 26th 2003. TME and NEC, via its subsidiary NEC Iberica, have entered into an agreement for the supply of a mobile multimedia platform system with a view to develop i-mode services as one of the attractive service menus among e-mocion. Telefonica Moviles Espana is the Spanish leading mobile telephony company, with more than 18.7 million subscribers in Spain.

Euro Feedback and the Future of WWJ

WWJ subscribers did a great job of summarizing and opinion-izing on the state of the mobile Internet in Europe, and I would venture that the information contained below in today’s newsletter probably couldn’t be purchased anywhere – or if it could, the cost would be substantial. My overall take after reading, editing (slightly), and collating the responses is that – Wow! – Europe’s come a long way in the past two years. It strikes me that Europe 2003 is akin to Japan 2000, with new networks, data services, and innovative business models all being trialed, proven, and – in some cases (Did someone say “KPN i-mode?”) disproven.

Who Will Take the i-mode Lead in Europe?

Conrad Yiu, director of development at London-based Carbon Partners, a mobile content developer, said last week that the difficulty with using the wireless Internet as a marketing and promotion platform is the grey area mobile marketing and mobile consumer services crossover. He agreed that, even in Europe, or at least the UK, mobile users should be willing to pay for “marketing messages” that are fun and cool. “That is the holy grail for the brand or media owner. I guess the same idea of US college kids who wear their sweatshirts with the college name on it,” he added.

Preparing for 3G Day

Britain’s first next-generation mobile phone network, 3, launches next month. So it seems like a good time to look at the lessons from the Japanese market, where 3G has been available for 18 months, and ask when we’ll really be enjoying the benefits of 3G in the UK.

Europe's i-mode a Bust for Japanese Content Plays?

“Take a look at this list,” says Arjen van Blokland, pointing to the top ten i-mode site listing at imode.nl. “Not one of them is Japanese,” states Arjen in a voice that betrays evident relief that 104.com didn’t get involved in European i-mode. He asks, Where’s Cybird?, illustrating that fact that the Japanese content producers and aggregators — like Cybird, Index, MTI, and others — have seen signal unsuccess at penetrating the baby i-modes overseas. He may have a good point — given that it should have been the Japanese that taught the rest of the i-mode world how to do content right.