| TOKYO, JAPAN, February 22, 2002 --- NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced today that it has released "open i-area" service guidelines, available in Japanese on the company's website at |
| http://www.nttdocomo.co.jp/p_s/imode/iarea/open.html. |
"open i-area" allows any information service provider to supply content to i-areaTM users. "i-area" is a feature of DoCoMo's  service, delivering weather, dining, traffic, and other types of information accessed from 482 separate areas throughout Japan. Since i-mode base stations can automatically recognize a subscriber's location, information is organized according to the dialing area in which the handset is being used. This enables users to search locations quickly and easily without having to handle vast amounts of information about unrelated areas.Up until now, only official information service providers selected by DoCoMo were allowed to provide i-area content via i-mode portal sites. The open i-area service lets anyone relay i-area information to users through i-mode server centers. Users will be asked to reconfirm their location before prior to accessing unofficial i-area sites. DoCoMo will start providing this service as soon as i-mode centers have been modified. The guidelines include basic specifications for i-area content, DoCoMo's policy on open i-area service, an i-area map that shows area division and a description of locations in these specified areas. In accordance with official requirements, the companies today submitted notifications of the service to the Ministry of Public Management, Home Affairs, Post and Telecommunications. About NTT DoCoMo NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company with more than 40 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 30 million subscribers, and  , launched in 2001 as the world's first 3G mobile service. In addition to wholly owned subsidiaries in the United States, Europe and Brazil, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic joint ventures and other alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in the Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. The company is listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange. For more information, visit www.nttdocomo.com.i-mode and FOMA are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries. |
