Bandai to lure kids to NTT's L-mode

NTT's L-mode device will target a demographic that has yet to go mobile in Japan -- children and senior citizens.

In this story: L-mode for kids, seniors Government pressure RELATED STORIES, SITES

By CNN's Kristie Lu Stout

TOKYO, Japan (CNN) -- Japanese toy maker Bandai will unleash a kid-friendly device to access NTT's L-mode fixed-line Internet data service.

The L-mode is a phone line version of the popular I-mode service.

Japan's top telco Nippon Telegraph and Telephon (NTT) will launch the service, which allows e-mail and Net access from a home telephone, on June 29.

Bandai's child-proof Mail Note Club resembles a notebook computer and handles email, software downloads and information searches, according to Japan's Nikkei wire service.

L-mode for kids, seniors

The price of Bandai's L-mode device is likely to be around $167 to target a demographic not known for participating in Japan's mobile craze -- primary and middle school students, and senior citizens.

"This product is very applicable for Japanese seniors," said Kiyohisa Ota of Merrill Lynch Telecom Research Japan.

"Older Japanese are not accustomed to using a keyboard. The L-mode service will have a simple 10-key access to the Internet."

NTT East, one of NTT's regional subsidiaries launching the service, said Bandai's machine is the first product specifically designed for the L-mode.

NTT is hoping to replicate the consumer sensation of the wildly successful I-mode Internet data service offered by its mobile unit NTT DoCoMo. The I-mode has attracted over 23 million subscribers since its launch in 1999.

The L-mode, like the I-mode, will grant subscribers access to weather, health and banking information from over 200 content providers. Each L-mode user will receive an email address.

The basic monthly charge will be $2.50, not including special charges for Internet access. NTT will also install L-mode compatible pay phones for remote access of the service.

Government pressure

NTT's regional carriers, NTT East an NTT West, have been under pressure from the Japanese government to open its L-mode Internet networks to rival carriers.

NTT East and NTT West have about 95 percent of the fixed line market in Japan.

Rival mobile operators J-Phone and KDDI were concerned that NTT's L-mode service would provide access to the I-mode but not to their respective J-Skywalker and Au Internet data services.

NTT's regional units won government approval to launch the new service after giving assurances that other service providers would handle information traffic between a user's local access point and NTT's Internet gateway.

Analysts say that with L-mode, NTT is hoping to replicate the success of the popular I-mode service as it faces a decline in pay phone use and fixed-line subscriptions.

NTT traded at 754,000 yen in afternoon trade Thursday, down 2.1 percent from its Wednesday close of 769,000.

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