China Mobile tests new service
By Li Weitao (China Daily)
Updated: 2006-06-16 10:08
China Mobile Communications Corp, the larger of the country's two mobile
operators, has launched an instant messaging (IM) service trial with its own
brand.
The move could be a blow for IM providers such as Microsoft's MSN
division and China's Tencent, which have been seeking to extend their PC-based
IM services to mobile phones.
A spokesman with China Mobile told China
Daily that the firm has yet to set a timetable for a formal launch but "it could
come soon."
Branded as Femoo, China Mobile's IM tool enables handset
users to chat with other Femoo subscribers, either with a mobile phone or a PC,
in an interface roughly the same as MSN messenger and Tencent's QQ.
A
website affiliated with Beijing Mobile, www.m161.com.cn, is offering downloads of the
Femoo software for both mobile phones and PCs.
According to the website,
a Femoo user will be charged 5 yuan (62 US cents) per month.
China Mobile
has previously signed contracts with wireless service providers (SPs) including
Tencent, Sina Corp and Tom Online, enabling the firm to provide various IM
services on mobile phones.
But China Mobile said late last month it would
not add any new IM services provided by SPs to its mobile Internet networks from
June 1.
The China Mobile spokesman said that after December 31 it would
end its partnerships with all SPs providing the IM services.
The
Internet-mobile crossover business will build on the runaway success of short
messaging service (SMS) and IM in China.
In the first quarter of this
year, 98.8 billion SMS messages were sent in China, up 47 per cent year on
year.
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