I-mode

NTT DoCoMo's i-mode is a wireless Internet service popular in Japan and is increasing in popularity in other parts of the world. i-mode is now a global system where operators design the compatible handsets, give strong editorial and usability rules to content providers, and propose an open business model to them. i-mode uses open standards as technologies: a light version of HTML is used for producing content, the i-mode mail is interoperable with e-mail, images and sound formats are the ones used on the Web. i-mode users have access to various services such as e-mail, sports results, weather forecast, games, financial services and ticket booking.

i-mode was developed as an inexpensive method of packet-switched high-speed communication. "Packet-switched" means that i-mode communications are “always-on”, unlike voice calls which are circuit-based and only function after dial-up. Packet-switched data transfer remains relatively inexpensive as it is charged according to the number of individual packets of data sent and received.

History

i-mode was launched in Japan on 22 February 1999. The content planning and service design team was led by Mari Matsunaga, while Takeshi Natsuno was responsible for the business development. Top executive Keiichi Enoki oversaw the technical and overall development. A few months after DoCoMo launched i-mode in February 1999, DoCoMo's competitors, the Japanese mobile operators launched very similar mobile data services: KDDI launched EZweb, and J-Phone launched J-Sky. As of June 2006, these three major mobile data services have over 80 million subscribers in Japan. Vodafone later acquired J-Phone including J-Sky, renaming the service Vodafone Live!, although initially this was different from Vodafone Live! in Europe and other markets. In addition, Vodafone KK was acquired by Softbank, an operator of Yahoo! Japan in October, 2006 and changed the name to Softbank Mobile.

The current i-mode center is called CiRCUS, which consists of 400 NEC NX7000 HP-UX servers and occupies 4600 m² floor space in DoCoMo's Kawasaki office. The operation support system is called CARNiVAL, which is hosted in the Toranomon JT Building.

Markets

Starting from summer 2007 i-mode is available in Romania as well. The technology was brought by the Greek operator Cosmote, the third biggest GSM operator on Romanian market.

Telstra (Australia) and O2 (United Kingdom) on the 18th of July 2007, announced that they were dropping support for i-mode services. ^[2] ^[3]. Low subscriber numbers were cited as reasons, as was lack of support from some vendors.

KPN (Netherlands) on the 19th of July 2007, announced that it will no longer be launching new i-mode services or mobile phones geared towards i-mode support. ^[4]. Low subscriber numbers were cited as the main reason. i-mode services will continue to be offered, letting the services phase out naturally; The i-mode mobile banking service by the Postbank was also stated to contine to be offered, despite minimal use of the service by subscribers.

(MTS) has been dropping i-mode since the 20th of February 2008. Though i-mode phones were not available from MTS since mid 2007.^[5]

E-Plus, the KPN-owned German mobile operator, ended its i-mode service on the 1st of April, 2008. ^[6]

Comparison to WAP

In contrast with the WAP standard, which uses WML on top of a specific protocol stack for wireless handheld devices, i-mode borrows from fixed Internet data formats such as C-HTML based on HTML, as well as DoCoMo proprietary protocols ALP (HTTP) and TLP (TCP, UDP). It became a runaway success because of the well-designed services and business model, as well as the strong demand for mobile email services which are part of i-mode.

Devices

Some typical features include the "clamshell" model with large displays (240x320 pixels) and in many models, a display on either side. Additionally the phones have many extra features, e.g. a megapixel digital camera. The displays normally have 65,536 colors but the newest models have as many as 262,144 colors.The first nine i-mode handsets released in the UK.

i-mode Ecosystem

While WAP is essentially only a page description code, i-mode as introduced and managed by DoCoMo is a full Eco-System.^[7]

i-mode's Eco-System includes about 4000 content partner companies, as well as many other companies such as content aggregators, software developers, browser and JAVA tool companies and many others. Many traditional companies carry a substantial part of their business out via i-mode mobile commerce or mobile transactions.

Usage

i-mode phones have a special i-mode button for the user to access the start menu. There are more than 12,000 official sites - and around 100,000 or more unofficial i-mode sites, which are not linked to DoCoMo's i-mode portal page and DoCoMo's billing services.

NTT DoCoMo supervises the content and operations of all official i-mode sites, most of which are commercial sites. These official sites are accessed through DoCoMo's i-mode menu but in many cases official sites can also be accessed from mobile phones by typing the URL or through the use of QR code.

An i-mode user pays for both sent and received data. There are services to avoid unsolicited e-mails. The basic monthly charge is typically on the order of JPY ¥200 - ¥300 for i-mode not including the data transfer charges, with additional charges on a monthly subscription basis for premium services. A variety of discount plans exist, for example family discount and flat packet plans for unlimited transfer of data at a fixed monthly charge (on the order of ¥4000/month).

Contents

History

Markets

Comparison to WAP

Devices

i-mode Ecosystem

Usage

See also

References

External links