What is i-mode?

i-mode is a wireless internet service which enables mobile phone users to access mobile internet sites. i-mode was launched in Japan on 22/02/99 by NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile network in Japan currently holding over 56% share of Japan's mobile market.

i-mode has 45 million customers in Japan and over 5 million in the rest of the world. The other two leading network operators in Japan have also developed their own internet platforms. KDDI/AU introduced EZWeb and Vodafone introduced Vodafone Live (Jsky).

How is i-mode used in Japan?

The main difference between i-mode and the past GSM web portals is that i-mode is easy to use. Press the i-mode button on your Japanese handset to open the i-mode menu.

i-mode menu contains sites in a directory layout. To appear in i-mode, EZWeb or Vodafone Live's top menu, you must register with the network operator and have to share about 10% of the revenue.

You can also type in the URL to access a site which is not registered in these menus. The main use of i-mode in Japan is its email facility (i-mail). Each i-mode subscriber is assigned a phone email address which allows sending and receiving emails. About 30% of Japanese use i-mode over 10 times a day, sending emails, booking train tickets, weather, download ringtones, online banking, find nearest restaurants using GPS, shopping...etc.

How is i-mode charged in Japan?

Japanese subscribers typically pay JPY300/month to subscribe for the use of i-mode. You also pay for data packet transmission (say for downloading data for each i-mode site or downloading ringtones).

Some sites require subscribers to register and charge JPY100-JPY500/month. For example, if you register to a ringtone site, you can download up to 10 ringtones a month without having to pay further download fees (data transmission excluded). Some phones have secure server. This may apply if say you are shopping on i-mode and you want to pay by credit card or to use mobile internet banking.

i-mode script

WAP utilises WML on top of a specific protocol stack for wireless handheld devices. i-mode uses Internet data format such as C-HTML based on HTML. (Other DoCoMo protocols: ALP (HTTP) and TLP(TCP, UDP).

i-mode mail is interoperable with email. Images and sound formats are same as used in the Web. C-HTML has i-mode only tags not compatible to HTML such as dial-to tag like the mail-to tag and picture symbols. There are JAVA compatible handsets for downloading JAVA applets. Typical screen size 2.4 inches diagonally 240x320 pixels.

i-mode speed

High data transmission of 200kbps, normally 64kbps upload and 384kbpd download on DoCoMo's 3G FOMA. Data transfer uses packet transmission. 1 data packet contains 128 byte.

i-mode in the world

i-mode is being provided world-wide through DoCoMo's partners through a licensing scheme involving mobile operators in the following countries: Germany, the Netherlands (KPN), Belgium (Base), France (Bouygues Telecom), Spain (Telefonica Moviles), Italy (Wind), Greece (Cosmote), Australia (Telstra) and Taiwan (Far East Tone). United Kingdom (O2), Singapore (StarHub), Israel (Cellcom), Ireland (O2) and Russia (MTS) have launched i-mode services on October 2005. The worldwide partnership is called the i-mode Alliance.

i-mode in the UK

In the UK, O2 is the exclusive partner of i-mode. O2's i-mode top page includes What's new, News & Weather, Sport, Music & Download, Lifestyle, TV & Film, Communities, Games, Travel, Info & Directories, Shopping, Banking & Finance, Lottery & Betting, Adult.

Official O2 content partners include: Egg, Rightmove.co.uk, Channel 4, BAA, Financial Times, Interflora, Sky Sports and News, Norwich Union, the National Lottery, FHM, F1-Live.com, The Times Online, Maxim, Sony BMG, GMTV, India FM, Streetmap, Konami, Sega and Sonic the Hedgehog. They all have official i-mode sites in time for the Oct launch.

O2 has declared it will obtain a 14% profit margin on services on i-mode sites, as opposed to the 40-50% rate charged by other European operators.

i-mail in the UK

O2 offers i-mail as part of their i-mode service. i-mail works in similar ways to a PC mail account. If you send an i-mail to a phone that doesn’t support i-mode, it will appear as an MMS. If the phone doesn’t support MMS, a text message will tell the person to view the attachment on a website. You can change your i-mail address and set up filters to prevent spam emails. Currently UK has 4 i-mode compatible handsets: NEC 343i, NEC 411i, Samsung S500i, Samsung Z320i.