Greek mobile operator Cosmote will launch commerically available i-mode from June 7, Mobile Europe has learnt. The operator will announce its i-mode service launch at a press conference scheduled to be held on 3 June, meeting a commitment to have I-mode services up and running in time for the Olympic Games.
Greek mobile operator Cosmote will launch commerically available i-mode from June 7, Mobile Europe has learnt. The operator will announce its i-mode service launch at a press conference scheduled to be held on 3 June, meeting a commitment to have I-mode services up and running in time for the Olympic Games.
This week Cosmote launched its 3G service, bringing mobile video streaming to the Greek market for the first time. The operator will cover 30% of the country at launch, and will offer customers the Sony Ericsson Z1010 and Nokia’s 7600 for video calling and streaming.
The launch of the service conincides with some cheap rates up until July 31 – close to the start of the Olympics. Video calling will cost half the usual rate until that date, at EUR.005 per second, and internet access packages will have twice the normal usage included. Video
streaming will cost users EUR5 per month for a 500Mb bundle, with EUR.001 charged for every kb over the 500MB limit.
Cosmote’s W-CDMA network was supplied by Ericsson, which has the contract for further equipment until the end of 2004. I-mode is a proprietary data service developed by Japanese operator NTT DoCoMo. NTT has signed up several other European operators for I-mode services (Bouygues, WIND, KPN Mobile, E-Plus, Telefonica Movile Espana) and sees great potential for marketing services available on i-mode during the Olympics. Cosmote is one of the major sponsors of the games.