KG Telecommunication Co (
"As more people start to depend on cellphones and heavy reliance on Internet access grows, i-mode service will experience growing demand," said Leslie Koo (
PHOTO: CHEN CHENG-CHANG, TAIPEI TIMES
The i-mode service was first launched in Japan by that nation's top mobile-phone operator, NTT DoCoMo, in 1999. The service currently has more than 33 million subscribers there.
DoCoMo has now started to expand the service overseas. In March of this year, Royal KPN Mobile NV, the largest Dutch cellphone company, began to offer i-mode services in Germany and the Netherlands.
Confidence based on experience
"We were very successful in these two countries ? we also believe our service in Taiwan will quickly become popular," said Takeshi Natsuno, managing director at NTT DoCoMo.
KPN has already attracted more than 35,000 i-mode subscribers, he said.
But compared to the total number of mobile phone users Germany and the Netherlands, the i-mode service's penetration rate is less than 0.1 percent, another pundit said.
"From a global or a regional point of view, most cellphone users don't currently regard mobile Internet as a `must,'" said Ann Liang (
In addition to holding a 20 percent share of KG Telecom, NTT DoCoMo also owns stakes in KPN Mobile, US-based AT&T Wireless and UK-based Hutchison 3G Holdings Ltd.
Falling prices
Prices of the NEC N530i handset -- the only mobile phone model customized for the i-mode service in Taiwan -- were cut from over NT$14,000 to NT$7,900, when bought in combination with a KG Telecom subscription.
The i-mode subscription fee is NT$168 per month, and downloading 200 letters of English text or 100 Chinese characters in an e-mail will cost users about NT$0.3.
Fearing pricey handsets may keep consumers away, KG Telecom has pitched a phone/service package consumers.
This "heavily subsidized" package may help KG Telecom to peddle the new i-mode service.
And with Taiwan's technology-crazed youth also feeling the pinch of economic tough times, the bundle strategy may speed up the company's grab for market share, Liang said.
"Compared to the package KPN offered in Europe, KG Telecom's deal is more attractive," she said.
Rival operator Taiwan Cellular Corp (
It's multimedia messaging service (MMS) allows users to send multimedia pictures, moving images as well as music files between their cellphones.
Promising market
"With an increasing number of users using short message services to transmit text, the market appears promising," said Rachel Tan (譚瑞琪), a marketing expert at Taiwan Cellular.
Taiwan Cellular's new service will also require the purchase of a new handset. Only SonyEricsson's T68i model can support MMS in Taiwan, which is bundled with the service and sells for NT$7,900.
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