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i-Mode was once synonymous with innovative mobile data services which attracted a massive market of content-hungry consumers. While this may still be true, the once unique offering pioneered by Japan?s NTT DoCoMo now faces tough competition from the likes of Vodafone Live!, T-Mobile?s T-Zones, Sprint?s PCS Vision and a host of similar multimedia packages. The marketplace has evolved, and if it is to remain a leader in the creation of imaginative services and technology, i-Mode must evolve too.

This requires more than just dreaming up another application or adding yet another feature to the latest handset model. Instead, it may be time for a more radical strategic re-think of the i-Mode proposition. What options are available for i-Mode over the coming years, and how can these be evaluated and implemented?

The evolution of i-Mode concerns not just DoCoMo or its licensees and partners. It is a case study of how wireless multimedia services can meet the expectations of a marketplace dominated by customer lifestyles and ever-increasing mobility, based on a patchwork of different technologies and roaming agreements. Partnerships between operators, vendors and content providers have to be redefined to fit the new environment.

i-Mode 2007 provides a strategic business vision for the next four years, and examines the key issues affecting everyone along the value chain, from wireless operators and service partners to content and application creators, handset vendors and platform providers.

i-Mode 2007 seeks to answer key questions such as:

? How can i-Mode, and competitive offerings, evolve to serve the needs of a rapidly changing marketplace?

? How will new technologies, such as native IP, transform the mobile landscape?

? How can carriers take advantage of the increasing separation of uplink and downlink technologies and fine-tune their partnership agreements accordingly?

? How can operators and third party providers create imaginative services and applications which relate to the lifestyle goals of their future customers?

? How can i-Mode increase its presence in the enterprise market, and which vertical sectors should be addressed first?

? What will be the downstream effects resulting from an evolved i-Mode platform?

? Which companies or offerings will pose the greatest threat to i-Mode, and how should i-Mode respond?

? What are the business opportunities for potential partners and third party service providers?


About the author

Lee Allen has over 20 years of experience in areas including strategic analysis, wireless telecommunications, research and development, product development, and enterprise IT, including work for NTT DoCoMo, NTT Multimedia Communications Labs, BellSouth, the Yankee Group, and Lotus Development Corporation.

Lee was most recently Senior Research Analyst at NTT DoCoMo USA Laboratories, where he evaluated future business and usage models for the post-3G environment and authored nine business-method patents.

Lee earned his Bachelor of Science degree at MIT and his Master of Science degree at the MIT Sloan School of Management.