TOKYO—NTT DoCoMo, the leading mobile carrier in Japan, on 18 February announced it will launch i-mode-like service in Germany in March or April through its partner, E-Plus. Based on the basic agreement, NTT DoCoMo will transfer and license technologies for i-mode like service to E-Plus.
NTT DoCoMo had concluded a similar contract for transferring and licensing the same technologies to KPN Mobile. The Dutch carrier is scheduled to launch i-mode-like service in the Netherlands and Belgium in March or April.
KPN Mobile has 5.22 million subscribers in the Netherlands and 1 million subscribers in Belgium. E-Plus has 7.48 million subscribers in Germany. By fully using its relations with these two carriers, NTT DoCoMo is aimed at expanding i-mode services in Europe. NTT DoCoMo’s i-mode service, an Internet access service, is popular in Japan. As of the end of January, DoCoMo had 30.1 million i-mode service subscribers.
