Now Telstra Abandons I-Mode
By James Quintana Pearce - Tue 17 Jul 2007 01:42 PM PST
Just after O2 said it was going to stop selling new i-mode handsets (but support the current crop for two years) Australian incumbent Telstra has announced it is ending the service in December. “Telstra, which will stop i-mode Dec. 10, is the first overseas operator to cancel the service, curbing DoCoMo Chief Executive Officer Masao Nakamura’s plan to expand globally to counter easing sales in Japan” reports Bloomberg. Telstra hasn’t been that keen on i-mode for a while and hasn’t really promoted it—instead prefering to focus on its BigPond brand. A couple of months ago i-mode’s Indian launch was cancelled when Vodafone bought out Hutchison, because Vodafone is keen on Vodafone Live. All in all, it’s not looking too good for DoCoMo’s effort to spread i-mode around the globe.
Posted in: Companies, Operators, DoCoMo, Countries, Asia, Japan, Australia/NZ
