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All you need to know about COSMOTE's i-mode® service in Greece and the Balkans
i-mode® is a revolutionary mobile phone service that has
revolutionised wide-ranging aspects of work and leisure in Japan. Offering easy access to more than 82,000* Internet sites, it has attracted more than 41 million* subscribers since its introduction in February 1999. Dedicated to creating a common platform for advanced mobile multimedia, NTT DoCoMo continues to develop markets outside of Japan and build alliances that promote 3G services. The popular i-mode service has already been launched in a number of countries throughout Europe, including Greece, with each country offering its own unique content and terminals. This trend began with the launch of i-mode services from E-Plus of Germany in March 2002, and was followed by the launch of services from KPN Mobile in The Netherlands, BASE in Belgium, and Bouygues Telecom in France in the same year. Telefonica Moviles in Spain also launched i-mode in June 2003, as did Wind of Italy in November 2003. In June 2004, following the signing of a partnership agreement with NTT DoCoMo, COSMOTE launched i-mode, the world's most popular mobile Internet service, in the Greek market. With i-mode, COSMOTE aims to enhance its data offering portfolio and further boost service revenues and their overall contribution in the future revenue mix of the leading mobile telecommunications company in Greece. Since its launch in Greece, COMOTE's i-mode customer take up has exceeded initial expectations, as so-called "i-mode service activations" surpassed 90,000, according to a COSMOTE press release dated November 26th, 2004. The i-mode service activations at the end of September 2004 were over 52,000. NTT DoCoMo has been working closely with a subsidiary of Far EasTone (Former KG Telecommunications) in Taiwan to further develop its i-mode service, which was launched in June 2002. NTT DoCoMo is also building important relationships in the USA, where it is engaged in the development of mobile multimedia business with AT&T Wireless. Through these and other partnerships, NTT DoCoMo is sharing its technology and know-how and building relationships that support content diversity for the maximum benefit of subscribers.
Outline of COSMOTE's i-mode service in Greece
1) Operator: COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications SA,
Maroussi, Athens, Greece A. More than 100 sites at the time of launch, which are available in the following languages: Greek and/or English B. 14 major categories, as follows: a) News / Weather C. i-mode mail availability 7) Charges: Basic monthly fee: EUR 0 Joining a growing group
of i-mode operators:
COSMOTE's i-mode strategic partnership agreement with NTT DoCoMo (November 2003)
COSMOTE's presence in the Balkans
Key facts about COSMOTE: leveraging i-mode
i-mode Official Content Providers in Greece Finance Financial news
Capital markets
News / Weather News
International
Weather
Technology
Sports Sports news
Betting results
Motor sports
Mobile Banking Mobile banking
Maps & Info City maps
Information
Human resources
Entertainment In the city
At home
Lifestyle / Showbiz Lifestyle
Showbiz news
Health & Nutrition
Astrology / Humour Astrology
Humour
Ringtones Ringtones
Pictures & Cartoons Wallpapers
Cartoons
Greeting cards or e-cards
Games Games info
Games
Travel & Reservations Airlines & airports
Passenger shipping
Rent a Car
Hotels
On-line Shopping Miscellaneous
Books
Flowers
Buyer's guide
Chat & Date Chat & Date
Three examples of i-mode content partner sites National Bank of Greece SA
(NBG): Eleftherotypia
daily: Olympic Airlines SA:
ACCESS mobile technologies power COSMOTE i-mode service in Greece COSMOTE's choice of NetFront browser messaging client, Java VM, and SSL Client affirms ACCESS' leadership in international i-mode deployments July 26, 2004 - ACCESS (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4813), a global provider of Internet access technologies, today announced that COSMOTE, Greece’s leading mobile operator, has selected a range of ACCESS technologies for use in all handsets deployed on its i-mode service launched on June 7th, including ACCESS’ Compact NetFront browser, messaging client, Java VirtualA@Machine, and SSL client with full Greek language support. Devices available today include NEC’s N331i, N400i and N410i Greek i-mode handsets as well as Panasonic’s P341i Greek i-mode handset. ACCESS' extensive experience in providing advanced browser technology solutions for mobile operators throughout Europe, Asia, and the Americas including NTT DoCoMo's phenomenally successful i-mode service ensures that COSMOTE subscribers will have an intuitive, useful, fun, and rich mobile Internet browsing experience. ACCESS developed Compact HTML, the i-mode protocol, and has been a key partner to DoCoMo in the global evolution of the i-mode service. In addition to NetFront technology, ACCESS is providing COSMOTE with PC-based handset emulation software for redistribution to COSMOTE content partners. ACCESS' emulation software enables rapid development and testing of i-mode services and applications. By freeing content providers from the hardware and network constraints inherent to the use of real handsets for content development, ACCESS’ emulation technology significantly speeds the creation of rich content services while guaranteeing a seamless end-user experience on targeted handsets. "ACCESS has proven itself as the premier global provider of i-mode technology for mobile handsets," said Damian Charalambidis, COSMOTE Products, Services and Marketing General Director. "ACCESS’ expertise and support enabled COSMOTE to carry out a timely launch with appealing, user friendly handsets and content, ensuring the success of our new, excitingly simple i-mode service." "ACCESS is delighted to expand its relationship with the i-mode Alliance through COSMOTE’s new i-mode service," said Toru Arakawa, President and Chief Executive Officer of ACCESS. "COSMOTE's successful deployment is yet another example of our commitment to co-operate with operators and handset manufacturers in countries around the world to help make the promise of the ubiquitous mobile Internet a reality." About NetFront NetFront recently surpassed over 126 million deployments globally that include 280 unique devices ranging from mobile phones and PDAs to digital televisions, gaming consoles, and automobile telematics systems from 90 major Internet device manufacturers. NetFront supports a wider range of operating systems than any competing browser including solutions for Palm OS, Symbian OS, Linux OS, Windows Mobile/PocketPC and mobile handset environments like BREW™. NetFront browser technology is used by the world’s leading mobile operators, software providers and electronics manufacturers including Adobe, Alpine, AT&T Wireless, China Mobile, China Unicom, Handspring, Hutchinson 3G Group, IBM, KDDI, NEC, NTT DoCoMo, PalmSource, Samsung, Sanyo, Sharp, Sony and more. About COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications SA
COSMOTE, a member of the OTE Group (Hellenic Telecommunications Organisation SA), started commercial operations in Greece in April 1998, five years after its competitors and in only three and a half years of operations achieved the leading position in the Greek mobile market, both in terms of subscribers and growth rates but most importantly in terms of profitability. The company has been called as the most successful third entrant in Europe. COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications is also the leading mobile operator in Albania, through its subsidiary AMC and manages OTE's mobile assets in Bulgaria (GloBul) and FYROM (COSMOFON). In 2003, COSMOTE generated over EUR 1.35 billion in revenues and EUR 253 million in net profit. Both the company's EBITDA margin (above 42%) and net profit margin (above 18%) remain constantly among the top 3 in Europe. COSMOTE, one of the Grand National Sponsors of the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, is launching i-mode service in Greece in time for the Games, while it also plans to gradually expand the i-mode services to Albania, Bulgaria and FYROM. About ACCESS ACCESS Co. Ltd. (Tokyo Stock Exchange: 4813) is headquartered in Tokyo, Japan, with offices throughout the world including major centers in the U.S., Germany, and China. ACCESS is a leading global provider of mobile Internet technologies and consultation services for the beyond-PC market. ACCESS' NetFront browser technology powers 280 different commercial products world-wide including mobile phones, digital televisions, set-top boxes, game consoles, PDAs, car navigation systems, web phones, kiosk terminals and intranet terminals. ACCESS' NetFront browser technology is most widely deployed in mobile phones for NTT DoCoMo's popular i-mode and FOMA services. To date, over 126 million ACCESS software licenses have shipped from more than 90 major Internet device manufactures. ACCESS was listed on the Tokyo Stock Exchange Mothers market on February 26th, 2001. Trademark notice: ACCESS is a registered trademark in Japan. NetFront and Compact NetFront are registered trademarks of ACCESS Co., Ltd. in Japan. i-mode and the i-mode logo are trade marks or registered trade marks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and in other countries. All other trademarks belong to their respective owners. Source: ACCESS.
COSMOTE's i-mode service offers information on flights and Athens International Airport services June 16, 2004 -- Athens International Airport SA (AIA) is among the first companies that joined i-mode, COSMOTE's state-of-the-art mobile Internet service, providing integrated flight information services in real time. AIA, supported by COSMOTE, has created a special i-mode site, where mobile telephone users can receive fast and accurate real-time information, on all Athens International Airport flights. Furthermore, users of this new platform gain access to the airport's news and services, such as information on scheduled flights, airport access, airport parking and car-rental services, and, coming soon, information on AIA's shopping centre offers. Source: AIA.
COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications SA to launch i-mode service in Greece June 3, 2004 - COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications SA announced that it will begin marketing NTT DoCoMo, Inc.'s i-mode service to the Greek market on June 7th, 2004. The service in Greece, which will take place via COSMOTE's GPRS network, marks the ninth market for i-mode, following introduction to the service in Japan, Germany, The Netherlands, Taiwan, Belgium, France, Spain and Italy. COSMOTE is Greece's leading mobile operator, both in terms of subscribers and profitability. DoCoMo concluded an agreement in November 2003 to provide COSMOTE with know-how, technologies and patents necessary to launch the i-mode service. Japan's DoCoMo sees great potential for i-mode growth in Greece, which is a major European market for mobile communications with its national population of approximately 11 million people. DoCoMo and COSMOTE will also co-operate on the introduction of i-mode in other markets where COSMOTE maintains subsidiaries or manages operations, including AMC in Albania, GloBul in Bulgaria and COSMOFON in the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia (FYROM). About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company, serving more than 48 million customers. The company offers a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services, including i-mode, which provides E-mail and Internet access to over 41 million subscribers as the world's most popular mobile internet service, and FOMA®, 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 America, the company is expanding its global reach through strategic alliances with mobile and multimedia service providers in Asia-Pacific, Europe and North America. NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM), and New York (DCM) stock exchanges.
NTT DoCoMo and COSMOTE commence strategic partnership for i-mode in Greece November 7, 2003 --- NTT DoCoMo, Inc., Japan's leading mobile communications provider, and COSMOTE Mobile Telecommunications SA, the leading mobile operator in Greece, announce today that they have formed an exclusive strategic partnership agreement under which DoCoMo is licencing COSMOTE to launch i-mode, the world's most popular mobile service, in Greece. The two leading mobile operators have signed today an agreement, under which COSMOTE will offer its i-mode service over its 2.5G GPRS netwok and 3G UMTS network, with DoCoMo providing its know-how, technology and patents. The service launch will be targeted to precede the Athens 2004 Olympic Games, for which COSMOTE is one of the Grand National Sponsors. In addition, COSMOTE and DoCoMo will co-operate on the introduction of i-mode services in other markets where COSMOTE either maintains subsidiaries (AMC in Albania) or manages operations (GloBul in Bulgaria, and COSMOFON in Macedonia).
COSMOTE's CEO, Evangelos Martigopoulos, commented: "Keeping up with all the new technological developments in order to continue providing exciting and innovative services to all our customers remains a key strategic objective of our Company. COSMOTE as always is committed in satisfying its customers' needs by offering simple and user friendly value-added services while at the same time paving the way for 3rd Generation services. We are very satisfied with today's announcement which proves our agility and ability to respond to the challenges that are presented before us."
The agreement with COSMOTE in Greece marks DoCoMo's eighth partnership for
i-mode service. COSMOTE joins an international i-mode alliance that includes E-Plus Mobilfunk GmbH & Co. KG (Germany), KPN Mobile
NV (Netherlands), KG Telecom (Taiwan), BASE NV/SA (Belgium), Bouygues Telecom
SA (France), Telefonica Moviles Espana (Spain), and Wind Telecomunicazioni SpA (Italy)*. With the launch of i-mode services, COSMOTE customers will enjoy a totally new experience that includes:
i-mode provides subscribers with access to rich content, E-mail, and applications entirely through their mobile handsets. Content providers and businesses can provide a wide variety of services via i-mode, an open platform based on de facto Internet standards. i-mode is used by more than 40 million subscribers in Japan today, about one-third of the Japanese population. Launched in a number of markets throughout Europe and Asia since 2002, i-mode services outside of Japan now total more than one million subscribers. Last updated: September 7, 2004. Important footnote: i-mode®, FOMA and the i-mode® logo are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries. NTT DoCoMo's FOMA service is only available to subscribers in Japan.
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