TOKYO—Coca-Cola Japan, NTT DoCoMo and Itochu jointly announced that they will establish Coca-Cola vending machines with which i-mode users can purchase a can of Coke without cash using i-mode mobile terminals throughout Japan. Starting in April, the three firms will set up several hundred such vending machines in six major cities and will add a total of 2,000 vending machines by the end of 2002.
Users of the vending machine, called Cmode, need pre-registration. Registered users are given bar codes on their handsets, and by putting their handsets over the barcode reader of Cmode, they can purchase cans of Coke.
The three firms have been conducting a trial for the Cmode service since last September in Tokyo.
Coca-Cola Japan is targeting to find a new market for vending machines, NTT DoCoMo is aimed at expanding use of i-mode services and Itochu is targeting to expand its content sales channel.
