Uploaded May 2026 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
"It's being called the 'mobile internet' - the marriage of mobile phone and internet technology, which is working the world's stock markets into a fever of anticipation."
Two of the world's fastest growing businesses - Vodaphone and Mannesmann AG - are being merged. It is the biggest merger in history, creating the world’s largest mobile telecom provider. It is the latest in a series of strategic mergers and alliances between phone companies, media groups and computer giants the world over. They're all betting on a future where people access the internet on state-of-the-art mobile phones. Licences to operate these "internet mobiles" are up for grabs, but is it a wise investment?
Nils Blythe reports from Tokyo, where the mobile internet revolution is already well underway. Some 4 million i-mode phones - which can send emails and access specially adapted internet sites - have been sold in Japan in a year. Nils visits the offices of Japan's largest mobile operator, NTT DOCOMO, to speak to the inventor of the i-mode, Takeshi Natsuno. Although the phones themselves have been popular - internet data accounts for a tiny amount of NTT DOCOMO's income, the majority of phone users still use it primarily for voice calls.
Is there a danger that the public don't actually want to use their mobile phones in the way that the big tech companies are betting on?
Introduced by Maya Even.
Clip taken from The Money Programme, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 20 February, 2000.
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"It's being called the 'mobile internet' - the marriage of mobile phone and internet technology, which is working the world's stock markets into a fever of anticipation."
Two of the world's fastest growing businesses - Vodaphone and Mannesmann AG - are being merged. It is the biggest merger in history, creating the world’s largest mobile telecom provider. It is the latest in a series of strategic mergers and alliances between phone companies, media groups and computer giants the world over. They're all betting on a future where people access the internet on state-of-the-art mobile phones. Licences to operate these "internet mobiles" are up for grabs, but is it a wise investment?
Nils Blythe reports from Tokyo, where the mobile internet revolution is already well underway. Some 4 million i-mode phones - which can send emails and access specially adapted internet sites - have been sold in Japan in a year. Nils visits the offices of Japan's largest mobile operator, NTT DOCOMO, to speak to the inventor of the i-mode, Takeshi Natsuno. Although the phones themselves have been popular - internet data accounts for a tiny amount of NTT DOCOMO's income, the majority of phone users still use it primarily for voice calls.
Is there a danger that the public don't actually want to use their mobile phones in the way that the big tech companies are betting on?
Introduced by Maya Even.
Clip taken from The Money Programme, originally broadcast on BBC Two, 20 February, 2000.
You have now entered the BBC Archive, a time machine that will transport you back to the golden age of TV to educate, entertain and enlighten you with classic clips from the BBC vaults.
Make sure you subscribe so that you never miss a single stop on our amazing journey through the BBC Archive - youtube.com/c/BBCArchive?sub_confirmation=1
You can also dive into plenty more BBC Archive on our website - bbc.co.uk/archive
