MOSCOW-I-mode mobile Internet service is coming to Russia and Eastern Europe under an agreement between Japanese i-mode creator NTT DoCoMo Inc. and Russia’s largest wireless carrier Mobile TeleSystems.
The carriers said Friday they have formed an exclusive strategic partnership under which MTS will launch i-mode service in Russia and other Eastern European countries where it has subsidiaries.
MTS plans to introduce i-mode in Russia before December 2005, and i-mode services will also be deployed in the Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Belarus.
“The introduction of i-mode will allow MTS to significantly broaden and diversify the range of services available to its customers,” said Vassily Sidorov, MTS president and chief executive officer. “The experience of other European operators shows that i-mode provides for additional revenues, contributing to [average revenue per user] growth. Subscribers are attracted by the convenient interface, wide range of content and the affordable pricing of the service.”
The agreement with MTS marks DoCoMo’s 12th tie-up for the i-mode service.
In other MTS news, international press reports said Deutsche Telekom has reduced its stake in MTS to 10 percent after it raised $1.73 billion selling a 15-percent stake in the Russian carrier.
