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The unofficial independent imode FAQ
9. International
9.1 In which countries do imode services operate?
Until March 2002 imode services only operated in Japan. DoCoMo has made investments
and created licensing partnerships with a number of telecom operators worldwide including
KPN (in the Netherlands),
ePlus (in Germany), and further countries including
Taiwan, Belgium, France, Italy, Spain, Greece, Australia and others.
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9.2 Which languages are used for imode content?
In Japan almost all imode users are Japanese and
most imode services are in Japanese language. For the G7/G8 meeting in Okinawa an
English menu section was added with limited content (CNN news, Disney, etc). The English
language content is separate and different than the Japanese language content. In other
countries the local language is used.
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9.3 What about NTT DoCoMo's internationalization strategy?
NTT DoCoMo has entered into a number or partnerships in US, the Americas,
Europe and Asia and Austalia, and imode services have started in Germany,
the Netherlands, Belgium and other countries. DoCoMo also cooperates with
other countries on standardization issues and development of 3G and 4G services.
DoCoMo has a variety of commercial operations and research and development in a
number of countries. DoCoMo operates R&D centers in Germany, USA and in China.
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9.4 Can experience from imode's business models be transfered to other countries?
Yes certainly. However, some specific usage patterns and business models may be specific
to Japan's circumstances. For example, in Japan commuters usually spend a long time on trains
to go to work or to school. In Europe and US a much higher proportion of workers take their
car to work and cannot use their mobile phone for imode while driving the car. The radio networks
are also different in different countries, so that technical modifications to the handsets and
equipment are necessary.
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