TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo Inc., the largest mobile carrier in Japan, and Bouygues Telecom, the third-largest operator in France, announced they reached a license agreement over i-mode services in France. Following the technology transfer agreement, Bouygues Telecom, a telecom business unit of Bouygues SA, is going to launch i-mode-like services based on GSM/GPRS and UMTS networks in France and its territories within one year.
Bouygues Telecom also announced that it will submit an application for a third-generation license to the French government on May 16, targeting to launch 3G service by the end of 2003 at the earliest. The operator did not participate in France’s first tender for 3G licenses last year, but the government is expected to award two additional 3G licenses by the end of September.
Martin Bouygues, chairman and chief executive officer of Bouygues Group, said at a Tokyo press conference that he strongly believes that i-mode services will be successfully implemented in France because i-mode is based on html, the de facto technology for the Internet, unlike the WAP.
He also stressed that Bouygues Group, which owns media companies, already has abundant content that can be used for the i-mode service, and Bouygues Telecom will establish win-win relations with content providers following DoCoMo’s successful i-mode service model.
During the past few years, NTT DoCoMo has invested a total of $13.8 billion into foreign operators to spread i-mode like services and W-CDMA-based 3G services around the world.
However unlike its relations with other partners, DoCoMo will not invest in Bouygues Telecom. Martin Bouygues explained that because Bouygues Group has high profitability—its net earnings in 2001 were $305.6 million—and low debt level—its stock holders’ equity in 2001 was $4.9 billion, while net debt for the same period was $977.3 million—his firm does not need funding. But it is believed that DoCoMo, which was forced to claim $4.2 billion in impairment losses from its overseas investments for fiscal year 2001, was forced to revise its overseas strategies.
NTT DoCoMo, in cooperation with E-Plus, launched an i-mode-like service in Germany on March 16 and, in cooperation with KPN Mobile, will launch i-mode service in the Netherlands tomorrow. AT&T Wireless Services Inc. also launched an i-mode-like service this week.
In Belgium, the operator will launch another i-mode like service in cooperation with KPN Orange in June. In addition, it is in talks with Hutchison 3G U.K. for launching i-mode-like services over 3G networks in the United Kingdom.
Keiji Tachikawa, president of NTT DoCoMo, said the Japanese company is in talks with operators in Italy and Spain regarding i-mode like services, although nothing has been decided yet in these countries.
