NTT DoCoMo and Hutch Essar Fallout
The deal that NTT DoCoMo and Hutch Essar signed last December on the i-Mode licensing in India has been given the boot. Apparently it is due to the change of environment in both companies so both parties have come to a conclusion that it wasn’t time yet it seems.
NTT DoCoMo and Hutch Essar Not to Proceed With i-mode Contract
Tokyo, Japan, May 7, 2007 - (JCN Newswire) - NTT DoCoMo, Inc. announced that the company and Indian mobile operator Hutchison Essar Ltd. (”Hutch”) have agreed not to proceed with the contract signed on December 15, 2006 regarding the licensing of the i-mode(TM) mobile Internet service in India.
DoCoMo and Hutch had been striving to launch i-mode service in India within 2007. Due to the changes in business environment, both companies concluded that it would be difficult to launch i-mode service at this time and agreed not to proceed.
*i-mode and FOMA(TM) are trademarks or registered trademarks of NTT DoCoMo, Inc. in Japan and other countries.
Imagine what it would have done to India’s economy.
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June 7th, 2007 at 7:38 pm
Hi:
I thought your readers would like to know why that i-mode deal fell through.. hint: just ‘might’ have something to do with Vodafone buying Hutch!
As reported on Wireless Watch Japan one month ago today:
http://wirelesswatch.jp/2007/05/07/i-mode-launch-cancelled-in-india/
Cheers,
Lars