Mr Ohboshi said that as far back as 1996 NTT made a conscious decision to stop competing with rivals on the price of call charges or by subsidising the cost of handsets for mobile networks. A price war hurts all operators when there are few new subscribers joining the networks. So, instead of offering low prices NTT built a mobile network that could give customers services none of its rivals could match. He said he had no doubt that this market would provide the bulk of I-Mode's revenue for the future. The charging system for I-Mode also helps NTT make money from the service.
People pay to receive e-mail, download data and access portals.
Those providing services via I-mode pay NTT to place adverts, serve up content via the network and to find out how much customers owe them every month. Despite the relatively high costs the service is still hugely popular. There are more than 37,000 websites accessible via the I-Mode service and it is the most popular method of accessing the net in Japan. Companies such as Coca-Cola have started using the service to contact its vending machines throughout the country to find out when they need filling or servicing. Mr Ohboshi held out hope for mobile phone firms trying to work out how to survive if the economic downturn takes hold.