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Welcome!

I-Mode is the full-color, always-on, packet-switched, Internet service for cellular phones offered by NTTDoCoMo (Nippon Telephone and Telegraph DoCoMo - doco mo means "anyplace you go" in Japanese and the acronym stands for "Do Communication Over the Mobile Network."). It has become wildly popular in Japan, with a meteoric 17.2 million new customers since it was launched in February 1999 - adding a mindboggling 50,000 - 60,000/day!

While WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) technology has turned out to have had less than a warm reception from users (including myself) and developers (who struggle writing WML that will work uniformly across all wireless devices), WAP proponents are praising I-mode for proving that a real market exists for the wireless Internet. Even the WAP's creator, phone.com, has now said it is moving away from the technology. And many experts are now predicting that if i-Mode doesn't replace WAP it will hybridize with it.

Now I-mode's business model looks ready to reverberate around the world: having established a foothold in Europe ( with Dutch KPN Telecom)and Telecom Italia Mobile (TIM). And by establishing a joint alliance with TIM and KPN on 01/17/2001, DoCoMo hopes to create a Pan European presence - creating research labs in both Italy and Holland, and hoping to initially roll out i-mode service in Europe by the end of 2001 in Italy, Holland, Germany and Belgium. It's first entry was into Asia (with Hutchinson Whampoa in Hong Kong - which is now the 2nd place in the world to access i-Mode). And on November 30, 2000 NTTDoCoMo acquired 20% stake in KG Telecom in Taiwan. Continuing its manic global aquisitions NTTDoCoMo bought 20% of AT&T Wireless (11/20/2000) and just set up an advisory panel (12/7/2000) to help them with their entry into the US market.

On this site you will find some general background information on i-Mode (what it is, it's technology, global strategy, market, services, and creator) and on NTTDoCoMo. But above all, resources about i-Mode in English.

Enjoy!

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