Tokyo, Japan, December 15, 2004 --- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. and its eight regional subsidiaries announced today that sales of i-mode FeliCa smart-card handsets exceeded one million units yesterday, some five months since the service's introduction on July 10, 2004. The service has grown faster than the i-mode® service, which took five and a half months to reach one million subscribers after its launch on February 22, 1999.
Currently, there are five FeliCa smart-card handsets, namely, 2G mova® P506iC, mova SH506iC, mova SO506iC, 3G FOMA® F900iC and FOMA SH901iC. Customers can use their i-mode FeliCa handsets as e-money, tickets, membership cards, point service cards and other services at about 13,000 shops and 2,700 vending machines.
DoCoMo's i-mode FeliCa service combines two advanced platforms: DoCoMo's i-mode mobile Internet service for data communication on the go and Sony's FeliCa smart card platform for rapid, secure data transmission. The handset is a powerful, multifunctional tool combining mobile communications with other diverse functions, ranging from financial transactions to keys for opening electronic locks.
About NTT DoCoMo
FOMA, i-mode and mova are trademarks or registered trademarks of
NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service is available only to subscribers in Japan.
FeliCa is a contactless IC chip technology developed by Sony Corporation.
FeliCa is a registered trademark of Sony Corporation.
