Tokyo/Madrid, July 24, 2002 --- NTT DoCoMo, Inc.,   S.A, and  S.A. announced today an agreement under which  , the world's most popular mobile internet service, will be launched in Spain in the first half of 2003. |
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The three parties signed a license agreement under which DoCoMo will provide patents, know-how and technologies needed for to offer the i-mode service on its Global Packet Radio Service (GPRS) network in Spain. holds the largest share of the Spanish market in mobile telecoms. The pact will remain valid for five years from July 24, 2002. plans to introduce i-mode service in the first half of 2003 under its conventional mobile internet service brand name ' '.The conventional service currently has 1.5 million active clients among more than four (4) million registered users, and 250 different content providers. i-mode based subscribers will have fast and easy access to e-mail and a variety of other online services and content via mobile phone, as i-mode users do in Japan. Using the dual-browser handset, i-mode based users will be able to receive content written in either i-mode-compatible HTML or WML1.X markup languages.Separately from the i-mode licensing pact, DoCoMo and S.A. today also formally agreed to form a business and technology alliance in overall mobile communications. The two companies will share GPRS/SIM card technologies and know-how, as well as opinions on handset evolution towards 3G (W-CDMA), mainly through personnel exchanges. They also will jointly study such possibilities as implementing international roaming services.Luis Lada, ' chairman and CEO said "the agreement with NTT DoCoMo will enable the company to increase even further its leadership in the area of innovation in Spain as it will be possible to offer customers the fullest potential in the multimedia mobile services that i-mode technology represents. In this way, will further strengthen the possibilities of in Spain, a mobile internet service access platform that already has four million registered users and a wide range of services and content.""We are very excited that i-mode service will expand into another European market. We know that , as Spain's No. 1 operator, has the capacity to deploy the service successfully in that country. We are looking forward to seeing an expanding i-mode community sharing the benefits of i-mode service," said Keiji Tachikawa, president and CEO of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. In Europe, DoCoMo has licensed i-mode technology to KPN Mobile N.V., E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co.KG, and Bouygues Telecom S.A.-in the Netherlands and Belgium, Germany, and France respectively. Now Spain, another major European market, will join the list, increasing the worldwide growth of mobile multimedia services using i-mode technology. About NTT DoCoMo NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company with more than 44 million customers. The company provides a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services. These include , the world's most popular mobile internet service, which provides e-mail and internet access to over 33 million subscribers, and  , launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in Europe and North and South America, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North and South America. NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. For more information, visit www.nttdocomo.comi-mode and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries. About   S.A. is the company that manages all the Group's cellular telephone assets. It is one of the world's leading mobile telephony companies, with a presence in 14 countries and a potential market of 514 million inhabitants. The company is leader in the growing markets of Spain and Latin America and is carrying out a strategy of selective expansion in Europe and the Mediterranean Basin. ' shares are traded on the Spanish and New York Stock Exchanges with the ticker TEM.In 2001 recorded operating revenue of euros 8.411 billion, representing yoy growth of 13.6% and EBITDA of euros 3.333 billion, a rise of 36%. Net profit advanced 51.3% to euros 893.4 million.For more information visit www.telefonicamoviles.com About  ( ) is the leading market operator in Spain with more than 17.6 million customers (with a market share of over 56%) and a range of services and data applications for companies which use the latest mobile technology such as GPRS. also has a UMTS licence. is the access menu to mobile content for customers, which now has more than four million registered users, of witch 1.5 million are active clients, and 250 different content providers.The company's commitment to innovation is reflected in its plans to spend 270 million euros during 2002 and 2003 on research and development of new services. For more information visit www.movistar.com |
