O2 and Telstra to abandon i-mode services as NTT DoCoMo's global expansion falters
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Published:
Week 30
July 2007 -
Image Source:
imode
News:
O2 and Telstra have announced that they intend to cease offering i-mode services to their clients.
In Europe, O2 UK (which is owned by Telefonica) announced that it plans to end its contract with NTT DoCoMo for the use of i-mode technology. It will keep supporting its i- mode service until mid 2009 however no new handsets will be launched. O2 cited the lack of i-mode compatible handsets for its decision. As part of this announcement O2 revealed it has approximately 360,000 i-mode compatible handsets live on its network with 260,000 active users - approximately 1 percent of its total user base. Telefonica will continue to offer i-mode in Spain where it is available under the Movistar brand.
In an unrelated statement Telstra in Australia announced that it would be the first operator to fully terminate its i-mode service on December 10th 2007. It justified the decision on the basis that many of the services and features available on i-mode are also available on its “BigPond” mobile service. Echoing O2 it also cited a lack of compatible handsets.
