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 E-Plus is to unveil I-mode, the long-awaited mobile data service, thanks to its parent company KPN Mobile, which is part owned by Japan's biggest mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo. KPN Mobile's majority owner is Koninklijke KPN of the Netherlands, where I-mode is to be unveiled in April after trials are completed.
First pioneered in Japan, I-mode has proved itself a highly successful mobile data service that lets users access various mobile entertainment and information services, including travel, games, weather, restaurant guides, maps and polyphonic ringing tones.
In Germany customers of E-Plus can sign up for an I-mode handset and subscription from 08 March, with handsets going on sale in German retail outlets on 16 March. E-Plus announced at a press conference in Dusseldorf on Monday that the NEC I-mode handset (N21i) will sell at EUR249. A monthly I-mode subscription will cost EUR3.
KPN said that customers will be able to purchase I-mode handset models and brands other than the initial NEC model during the course of 2002. The N2li includes a larger than normal screen, a colour display and improved sound quality of ringing tunes, and is compatible with GPRS and GSM. Users can also send and receive e-mails containing up to 1,000 characters and SMS messages up to 160 characters. The handset includes a built-in I-mode browser that lets users read I-mode-compatible HTML and WML content.
On the I-mode service some of the services offered by KPN Mobile's content partners will entail a monthly subscription of up to EUR2, while other services will be free.
Content partners already signed up for the venture include the Royal Dutch Automobile Association (ANWB), the daily newspaper De Telegraaf, VI Planet Voetbal (soccer news), Belbios (cinema), 9292 OV Travelinfo, Intermediair (job vacancies), TMF, Rabo Bank and Photoplay (gaming), VI Michelin, Meteoplaza (WNI), Spiegel online (news magazine), Kicker online (soccer news), Deutsche Bahn (German Railways), Phenomedia (gaming) and Falk online (Route Planner and City Router).
KPN said that in addition to these so-called "certified" content providers, independent providers can also offer services via their own I-mode sites. Independent content is not directly available via the I-mode portal menu, but can be accessed by entering a site URL into the browser. The company said that based on experiences in Japan, it believes there will be a "significant" number of independent sites on offer.
Following the I-mode launch in the Netherlands in April, KPN Mobile will start offering I-mode in June in Belgium through its local subsidiary, KPN Orange, which is to be rebranded to BASE. In all KPN Mobile has around 13.7 million customers across the three countries.
More information is at http://www.kpnmobile.com/.
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