Mobile data and Internet services provider KPN Mobile is set to launch an i-mode phone service in Germany on 16 March.

Mobile phone users in Germany will now have access to animated web content and e-mail through the i-mode service. The service will be based on GPRS technology to provide an always-on connection to the mobile Internet while making voice calls. Multimedia services that will be made available include animated news bulletins from Spiegel Online and travel information from German Railways.

The launch will reportedly be the first time the i-mode service has been introduced anywhere outside Japan.

German subscribers will be required to purchase compatible handsets for EUR249 and pay a monthly subscription fee of EUR3.

The i-mode service is scheduled to be made available in the Netherlands and Belgium from April and June respectively.

——-