Tokyo, Japan, and Singapore, January 31, 2005
ONE MORE ALLIANCE PARTNER ! ! !
DoCoMo and Singapore's StarHub announced a strategic partnership under which StarHub will launch i-mode™ services exclusively in Singapore by the fourth quarter of this year.
"i-mode is the household name in Japan and the phenomenal success of i-mode there provides a tested and proven ecosystem comprising close partnerships and strong associations with content providers, handset manufacturers, backend support partners and global i-mode alliance operators. StarHub can leverage this complete value chain to deliver superior, intuitive, user-friendly and lifestyle driven mobile content and services for its i-mode end-users soon," said Mr. Chan Kin Hung, Head of Mobile Services, StarHub.
StarHub's CEO Terry Clontz lamented the lack of standardization in phone browsers.
"i-mode will provide an advantage over current modes of mobile Net access," said Clontz.
"My experience with (surfing the Internet using a mobile phone or PDA) has been less than satisfactory because depending on what site you go to, it doesn't load up the way you would like it to," Clontz said at a press briefing.
"The i-mode platform gives you a predictable, consistent experience every single time. That works to eliminate the frustration you would have in trying to surf the Internet."
With this agreement, i-mode will be available in 22 countries and regions through 14 operators. Under the DoCoMo-StarHub agreement, StarHub will offer i-mode services over both its 2.5G and 3G networks.
"We intend to launch 3G in the first half of this year. We are still on track to do that. When we launch i-mode in the fourth quarter, it will be an enhancement," Clontz said.
This is an interesting development because DoCoMo has worked hard to establish and build a strong consulting relationship to SingTel on 3G. In 2003 the two carriers said they aim to integrate their 3G networks, based on W-CDMA technology, in order to boost roaming between Japan and Singapore. It's not clear how helping SingTel with 3G assists DoCoMo's alliance partner StarHub compete with its 3G rollout, suggesting that there was a change of plans with respect to Singapore and an alliance partner.
Over the next three years, the share of data to overall ARPU will increase to 25% from 15% with the launch of the i-mode, Chan Kin Hung said.
StarHub expects 50,000 subscribers to take up the i-mode service in the first year of its launch. StarHub president Terry Clontz said the launch of i-mode services will complement the company's 3G operations.
- for more see the StarHub press release.
I believe that once i-mode becomes the de facto industry standard globally, world would enter into a new era of digital international business.
"Geography" would turn into "History" then!
Posted by: Vikram BHAGDEV | February 03, 2005 at 02:36 AM