LONDON-NEC Corp said it has received orders for its Mobile Internet Platform and mobile handsets for Russian wireless carrier Mobile TeleSystems’ i-mode service. The value of the deal was not disclosed.
MTS currently has 40 million subscribers and more than 35 percent market share. The carrier’s i-mode service is scheduled to start in September, and further rollouts are scheduled in MTS’ holdings in the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Belarus.
For the initial stage, NEC will provide two i-mode phone models, the 1.3-megapixel N411I camera phone and the N343I Java-enabled camera phone. NEC said it plans to expand its Mobile Multimedia Platform business, targeting operators worldwide and will add to its mobile applications line-up.
“NEC is forging strategic relationships with mobile operators and is reinforcing its mobile business to provide improved revenue and create new business opportunities for operators in Russia and other regions of the world,” said Noboru Wakita, senior general manager of NEC’s Mobile Solutions Operations Unit.
NEC said its Mobile Internet Platform is currently operated by Wind in Italy, Telefonica Moviles Espana, Bouygues Telecom in France, Cosmote in Greece, Telstra in Australia and Taiwan Far EasTone Telecommunications.
