“How NTT DoCoMo became the world leader in the Mobile Internet” is the subtitle of this paper by an Associate Professor at Kobe University.
Robert Shaw (source of this link) comments.
At ITU TELECOM Americas 2000 in Rio de Janeiro, I chaired a panel session, which included Mr. Enoki, and I remember we had a terribly difficult time convincing the audience of the significance of i-mode. Mr. Enoki explained at the session that i-mode was not so much about technology as a new business model involving a micro-payment system rewarding companies who produced compelling content. This produced an important network effect model where content providers, users and hardware all contributed to the same positive feedback cycle (which seems to be notably missing in the WAP model).