Ovum: O2 to launch i-mode

Carrie Pawsey at Ovum posts about O2's announcement that it will launch i-mode data services at the start of October in the UK and Ireland, with a German launch during H1 2006. She comments that "O2 has been talking about i-mode for a long time and it's good to see that it is now bringing the service to market."

Pawsey looks at the pricing schema and launch promotions, and how it differs from O2's WAP product, Active. She notes that:

i-mode got off to a slow start in Europe, but we are now starting to see some encouraging results, particularly from players such as Bouygues and Telefonica. We think O2 was right to wait to launch i-mode. How it will work in Germany remains to be seen - after all, e-Plus has already launched the service there. We know that O2 will not be calling it i-mode, nor will it use the yellow i for its brand - which will feature prominently here in the UK and Ireland in its launch marketing.

The other question is how O2 will continue to run the two data brands of Active and i-mode. O2 states it is not divesting itself of Active, but we can't see the long-term viability of both. For now, Active offers a wider handset portfolio, but once this is addressed by i-mode and we see an i-mode Nokia handset, then we would expect to see Active be withdrawn.