TOKYO, JAPAN, September 26, 2005 --- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. reported that
O2 plc announced that they will be launching DoCoMo's i-mode® service in the UK market starting October 1st.
The service, which will be offered over O2's W-CDMA and GPRS network, marks the thirteenth market for i-mode, following Japan, Germany, the Netherlands, Taiwan, Belgium, France, Spain, Italy, Greece, Australia, Israel, and Russia.
O2 is a leading operator of mobile services in the UK. DoCoMo concluded an agreement in November 2004 to provide O2 with know-how, technologies and patents necessary to launch the i-mode service. O2 is expected to start the i-mode service in Ireland sometime this year.
DoCoMo will continue to work with international partners to introduce i-mode services in other markets worldwide.
Outline of i-mode service in the UK
| 1) Operator: |
O2 (UK) Ltd. |
| 2) Launch date: |
October 1st, 2005 |
| 3) Area: |
O2's 3G and GPRS network in the UK |
| 4) Network: |
W-CDMA and GPRS |
| 5) Handsets: |
NEC N411i and N343i, and Samsung S500i and Z320i |
6) Service includes:
- Around 100 sites at the time of launch, available in English
- i-mode mail availability
- MMS transmission compatibility
About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company, serving more than 50 million customers. The company offers a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services, including
i-mode® which provides e-mail and Internet access to over 45 million subscribers as the world's most popular mobile Internet service, and FOMA®, launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service based on
W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe,
North America and Asia, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific and Europe.
NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM) and
New York (DCM) stock exchanges. For more information, visit
www.docomo.ne.jp/english.
About O2
O2 is a leading provider of mobile services to consumers and businesses in the UK. It is the leader in non-voice services, including text, media messaging, games, music and video, as well as always-on data connections via GPRS, 3G and WLAN. Each month O2's 14.6 million plus customers send more than three-quarters of a billion text messages. O2 (UK) Ltd is a subsidiary of O2 plc, which also owns O2 branded mobile operators in Ireland and Germany as well as the O2 Airwave emergency services network in the UK.
i-mode, and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries.
NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service is only available to subscribers in Japan.
