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net-related facilities and content. I-mode users can currently access
tens of thousands of Web sites offering news, information, banking
services, shopping, ticketing and reservations, sports, dating, character
and melody download, and, importantly, access to the outside Web at
large (although sites must be suitably formatted for the small screen).

Like its Japanese rivals KDDI and J-phone, DoCoMo has solved

the problem of how to charge customers for content. I-mode mobile
Internet surfers are charged small monthly fees to access certain
``official'' sites with a few clicks, while users must input the URL
addresses of ``unofficial'' sites manually.

I-mode is an interesting solution to the problem mobile operators face

in getting to the super-fast, seamlessly integrated mobile Internet that
everybody wants. With minor modifications of established technology,
such as HTML (the Web page design language) and fees based on
packets of data downloaded (giving the user unlimited connection
time), i-mode offers users a far more attractive and convenient service
than the US and European attempts at introducing Wireless Application
Protocol (WAP). I-mode is, in effect, more of a brand of innovative
services than a ground-breaking technology.

NTT sees its DoCoMo subsidiary as being more than a mobile

operator: ``Our information distribution services businesses now stand
on the verge of significant growth. As mobile multimedia develops,
DoCoMo intends to support not only `person-to-person' communica-
tions but also `person-to-machine' and `machine-to-machine' commu-
nications. I-mode was a first step in this direction, linking people and
computers. At once, mobile phones were transformed from commu-
nication tools into terminals for receiving information on a real-time
basis. Examples of `machine-to-machine' services include a system that
monitors quantity and type of products remaining in vending machines
and a service that allows remote control of machinery by a computer.
Looking further ahead, anything that moves, including motor vehicles,
is a candidate for wireless services. Looking at the potential for growth,
the business possibilities are breathtaking.''

With the 2G-based i-Mode launch in 199899, DoCoMo had already

shifted its view of the mobile phone business, deciding that data
rather than voice was the way to add value. DoCoMo has stepped
back from the fierce competition to win new mobile customers