NTT DOCOMO, INC. announced today that its wholly-owned European subsidiary DOCOMO Netherlands B.V. will launch Europe's first mobile-phone service for downloading Japanese comics, better known as manga, beginning today in France.
The service, named MANGA MODE(TM), is expected to appeal to the growing number of people who enjoy reading manga, a popular form of Japanese pop culture.
Customers of French mobile operator Bouygues Telecom S.A. will be able to use the service to download French translations of famous manga into their mobile phones and view them panel by panel using a dedicated reader. A MANGA MODE mobile website where customers can sign up for the service will be accessible from Bouygues Telecom's mobile web portal (see attachment).
Manga titles to be provided by Japanese publisher SHUEISHA Inc. will include international hits such as NARUTO, DRAGON BALL and DEATH NOTE. Content will be distributed via Bitway Co., Ltd., a Japanese firm operating content-distribution servers.
DOCOMO and its overseas subsidiaries will consider opportunities to expand the manga-downloading service into other countries.
DOCOMO's Dutch subsidiary, originally set up as DOCOMO i-mode Europe B.V. to promote the overseas expansion of DOCOMO's mobile Internet platform, was renamed DOCOMO Netherlands B.V. on June 1 to reflect its involvement with a broadening scope of services.
About NTT DoCoMo
NTT DoCoMo is the world's leading mobile communications company. DoCoMo serves more than 51 million customers, of which more than half subscribe to FOMA(TM), launched as the world's first 3G mobile service based on W-CDMA in 2001. DoCoMo also offers a wide variety of leading-edge mobile multimedia services, including i-mode(TM), the world's most popular mobile e-mail/ Internet service, used by more than 46 million users. With the addition of credit-card and other e-wallet functions, DoCoMo mobile phones have become highly versatile tools for daily life. NTT DoCoMo is listed on the Tokyo (9437), London (NDCM) and New York (DCM) stock exchanges. For more information, visit www.nttdocomo.com .