O2 will tempt content providers with an 86 per cent revenue share when it launches i-mode across the UK and Ireland in a few weeks’ time.

The split exceeds many industry assumptions. It’s higher than the 80 per cent offered by Telefonica’s i-mode service, for example, while dwarfing the 50 per cent standard on operator WAP portals. O2 says it set the figure high to show its commitment to the content industry.

Grahame Riddell, O2’s head of i-mode marketing, said: “We’re very serious about this market and we’ll support content providers in terms of technology and marketing, plus an attractive revenue share.”

The operator will market i-mode as a ‘premium’ data service alongside its WAP deck O2 Active. However, the new service must put a question mark over the latter’s future.

Riddell was non-committal. “O2 Active is successful; it’s on 100 devices,” he said. “But we don’t know what our long-term strategy will be – it very much depends on the choices our subscribers make.”

O2 would not confirm the number of i-mode partners lined up or handsets set for launch.