Hi Cedric,
Sorry I did not get back to you more quickly, I have been traveling and
engaged in several projects.
My company does a lot of work with LAB, sop I'm pretty familiar with a lot
of the content and services on imode in France, and I must say (though don't
tell the Lagardere guys I told you) that I have never heard them as happy
about their relationship working with a carrier on imode as they are with
Bouyges.
And I've hear about the Orange/SFR Minitel (we used to work with Orange as
well). Its truly amazing that they are doing that - but it pales in
comparison to the capabilities and flexibility in working in imode.
That said, it is an interesting idea - with many many people still using the
Minitel, I can understand the idea catching on to a degree - but we both
know that imode is far superior...
Mark
On 5/12/03 16:10, "Cedric NICOLAS" <cedric.nicolas@helo.biz> wrote:
>
> Mark,
>
> Thank you very much for your compliments (I'm working at Bouygues Telecom).
> You're not very far from the truth... the content is the key. We'll keep
> going on i-mode and we modestly can say that we are shaking the French
> market. Just a precision : the Minitel is not completely out of the game. In
> fact France has a very strong and now old (in the computer time scale)
> interactive content culture. Minitel is very far from being dead here ! If I
> say you that among the top content providers you'll find several powerful
> Minitel companies (or new companies held by ancient Minitel entrepreneurs),
> this could also explain why we were so successful to get good content
> quickly (more than 150 official sites just 6 months after launch !). And a
> very very important lesson from the Minitel world is : listen to your
> customers ! Do the content they want and overall support them, answer to
> their questions, do a strong animation of the sites, because if you don't
> you'll loose very quickly your subscribers ! Our CPs are applying those
> basic rules and for now it's working...the positive feedback is on his way.
> And last but not the least, in reaction to our I-mode offer, Orange and SFR,
> our main competitors want to launch a... mobile Minitel ! Same system as the
> Minitel: you type a short code on a standard WAP page, a short code which
> will be common to the 3 operators and delivered once to the CP, and you'll
> access to a mobile site, with revenue sharing on event based billing...
> interesting isn't it ? They call that WAP Kiosk. We'll see then.
>
> Cedric NICOLAS
> Responsable expertise i-mode
> i-mode expertise manager
> Bouygues Telecom
> +33 1 58 17 98 88
> +33 6 60 31 13 59
> cenicola@bouyguestelecom.fr
>
> -----Message d'origine-----
> De : keitai-l-bounce@appelsiini.net
> [mailto:keitai-l-bounce@appelsiini.net]De la part de Mark Frieser
> Envoye : lundi 12 mai 2003 15:44
> A : keitai-l@appelsiini.net
> Objet : (keitai-l) Re: i-mode subscribers numbers Q1 2003
>
>
> Jurgen,
>
> To begin, I reported on the Minitel as an Editor in France for approximately
> 4 years - 1990-1994 - so I would ask you to please indulge me if I express
> my opinion about this subject as a person who may have some level of
> significant knowledge on this subject.
>
> Moreover, I my company and I have worked constantly in the French content
> and telecommunications markets since then.
>
> So, if I say something about the French market, its not just an "opinion"
> but an analysis based on deep background and understanding.
>
> Thank you however for your value of what I have to say. I find that
> charming.
>
> :)
>
> And I value you opinions on the Japanese market. (you're entitled to them
> too).
>
> :)
>
> For those of you who may find some value in what I have to say about the
> French market, please read on.
>
> My company works intimately with companies who are directly involved in the
> development of content and services for imode in France and across Europe,
> and frankly, in the final analysis, Minitel has nothing whatsoever to do
> with any success/failure of imode.
>
> In fact, most of the figures for wireless data service ARPU in France are
> lower than that in the UK or Germany. The reason for this may be pricing,
> and a lack of aggressive promotion of services.
>
> And though the Minitel may be seen as a potential trigger for wireless data
> services, the fact is, all indicators point to this not being the case at
> all. Whether it is a detriment to the use of wireless data services in
> general is somewhat doubtful in my opinion.
>
> But getting back to imode. Simply put, from my discussions with people at
> DoCoMo and other companies, and from general observation, its my conclusion
> that the success/failure of imode in European countries has to do with the
> implementation of imode and the relative market success of the wireless
> carrier implementing and launching it.
>
> Eplus, which has a somewhat mixed reputation in the market, and even KPN to
> some degree, have not done the best job of launching imode in a manner which
> made it a success in Japan. Much of the time, it has been made to conform
> to the thoughts of corporate management of various companies, who have
> perhaps taken pieces of imode and discarded what made it successful ion the
> first place (e.g., simplicity in development, good pricing, preferential
> deals to the content developer).
>
> In effect, some of the telecoms have replicated the mistakes they made with
> WAP, and this is reflected in their poor showing in imode usage and offering
> quality.
>
> Bouygues avoided many of these pitfalls. They have gone to pains to give
> the content developers the full benefits of the imode model and platform,
> which has resulted in far better service quality. Moreover, Bouygues has
> gone to pains to educate the consumer on the benefits of imode and has
> promoted the service (3 euros per month introductory rate for access) and
> the compatible handsets (e.g., a top level imode phone for 99 euros).
>
> At the end of the day, the reason why Bouygues has succeeded so far is
> because they have actually worked hard to get quality content out there with
> the service. They actually listened to Natsuno's team and enabled the
> content owners and produced worthwhile services as a result.
>
> This is why they have won. The Minitel is irrelevant to this.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
> On 5/12/03 8:38, "Juergen Specht" <js@nooper.com> wrote:
>
>>
>>> You know, most of the reason that imode is so much more successful has
>>> nothing to do with he minitel, but on solid work done by content owners
> and
>>> Bouygues to get it right.
>>> That's my view, anyway..
>>
>> It's always good to have an opinion :) (and I value it).
>>
>> But as old fashioned Minitel now sounds, it created a foundation
>> for acceptance of these convenient online services.
>>
>> I remember visiting a friend in Paris sometimes in the 80ties (?)
>> and he impressed me pretty much that he checked the cinema program,
>> reserved some seats in a restaurant etc, just by clicking some
>> buttons. Using Minitel was just "normal" for everybody.
>>
>> So I always thought that France is the country where the acceptance
>> will be greater than in Germany.
>>
>> I follow some online discussions about i-mode in Germany and there are
>> some supporters (who all miss some kind interconnectivity in one way
>> or the other with their non i-mode friends) and some people who just
>> hate i-mode. This goes all the way up to call it a "rice cooker
>> service" and worse.
>>
>> Anyway, I would like to hear the opinion of a French person living
>> in France and preferable not working for Bouygues about the perception
>> of i-mode users and if (just if) they see any relation to good ol'
>> Minitel.
>>
>> Thanks in advance,
>>
>> Juergen
>
> --
> Mark Frieser
> Consect
> +1 917 855 2669
>
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Received on Sat May 31 00:46:17 2003