First introduced in Japan in February 1999 by NTT DoCoMo, i-mode is one of the world’s most successful servicesoffering wireless web browsing and e-mail from mobile phones. Whereas until recently, mobile phones were usedmostly for making and receiving voice calls, i-mode phones allow users also to use their handsets to access variousinformation services and communicate via e-mail.In Japan, i-mode is most popular among young users, 24 to 35 years of age. The heaviest users of i-mode are women in their late 20’s. As of November 2000, i-mode had an estimated 14.9 million users.When using i-mode services, you do not pay for the time you are connected to a website or service, but are charged only according to the volume of data transmitted. That means that you can stay connected toa single website for hours without paying anything, as long as no data is transmitted .