Launches of the Japanese mobile media platform stalled elsewhere in Europe. But France’s Bouygues Telecom successfully duplicated the Japanese wireless carrier’s development and marketing strategies — right down to the last pixel.
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.
NTT DoCoMo Inc. President Masao Nakamura will seek an alliance with a UK partner that doesn’t require an equity investment to promote its i-mode wireless Internet technology, after selling its stake in Hutchison 3G UK. Note that this approach tightly mirrors DoCoMo’s earlier move into France (where i-mode has become a quiet success) and more recently into Australia. Big D no longer has to wave their cash club — they just have to offer a conduit to made-in-Japan 3G cellys.
NEC’s Mobile Internet Platform and i-mode Mobile Handset to Operate at COSMOTE i-mode Service in Greece. NEC Corporation and its subsidiary NEC Italia s.r.l today announced the delivery of its Mobile Internet Platform and mobile handsets to COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications S.A.’s “i-mode(r)” service, which will be provided commercially, with an initial free period, from 7 June 2004. NEC has achieved rapid implementation in cooperation with COSMOTE, so that the i-mode service can be launched well in advance of the “Athens 2004” Olympic Games, of which COSMOTE is a Grand National Sponsor.
Vodafone has chosen South Korea’s Samsung to provide its first 3G phone for their kickstart launch of services in Germany and Portugal, but hopes to expand its range over the coming months to include handsets from Sony Ericsson. People close to the operator said Vodafone was also in discussions with LG of Korea and Japan’s Sanyo to purchase additional phones, highlighting Asian manufacturers’ lead in 3G technology. However, Finland’s Nokia is also developing a phone for Vodafone.
NTT announced it will launch an official “uefa.com” site for i-mode mobile with the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA). The service is set to begin on April 19, 2004. They will provide the latest highlights from the official Japanese UEFA site “jp.uefa.com,” including updates from games such as the UEFA Champions League and UEFA EURO 2004. Other features will include interviews with popular players, information about individual players and their teams, and a variety of screensavers.
Panasonic Mobile Communications Co., Ltd., introduces the unique X300 to the European market. Designed with a one-push pop-up screen, the X300 is the first phone of its kind. The tri-band phone also features a 65K colour screen, video record and playback capability, polyphonic ring tones, Multimedia Messaging (MMS) and built-in camera. Mr Masatoshi Kitade, Managing Director, Panasonic Mobile Communications Europe, comments: “The X300 is an exciting addition to Panasonic’s product line up. Its innovative, pop-up screen design transforms a high-quality mobile phone into a digital camera. With the capability to shoot short video clips as well as still shots, the X300 is at the cutting-edge of mobile technology. We are proud to be the first to offer a phone of this design, continuing our tradition as pioneers in the industry.”
ACCESS, a global provider of mobile content delivery and Internet access technologies, today announced that its Compact NetFront Plus micro-browser and JV-LiteTM 2 Wireless Edition, a Sun authorized JVM that complies with the J2METM standard, have been selected by Panasonic for deployment in its first European i-mode(R) handset, the P341i. Panasonic also selected ACCESS’ AVETM-SSL encryption module for this deployment. Panasonic’s decision to use Compact NetFront adds to the millions of i-mode devices that already rely on ACCESS browser technology to power their Internet functionality.
Sharp Corporation announces that it will commence shipment of its new GX30 mobile phone with built-in megapixel CCD camera and color LCD to the world’s largest mobile community, the Vodafone Group. The GX30 is the first mobile phone in the European market to be equipped with a megapixel CCD camera. The new model will be released by Vodafone operators around the world starting March 2004.
Fujitsu Ltd. is reported to be re-entering the European market with both 2- and 3G phones in 2005, according to a report in Japan’s Nikkei. Fujitsu’s last foreign foray overseas, in the United States, ended in 1997. The Nikkei reports that Fujitsu plans to develop dual-standard phones with France’s Sagem SA, with which Fujitsu signed a technology partnership agreement back in 2002. The new phones are reported to support both GRPS and W-CDMA.
