O2 To Launch i-mode Without Search

Not that this is surprising, but goes you to show that operators are still mired in their thinking..UK operator O2 is all set to launch the i-mode service in UK, but will launch without a search engine. Its official content partners on i-mode will get top billing, and even though anyone can theoritically develop and i-mode site and be accesible to O2 users, the service will be without a search engine “at launch; we want customers to discover the official content.” Or in other words, they want the customers to not discover the unofficial content, which makes perfect sense given that they expect revenue share as well as data charges for the former.
But as the story says, perfect sense is not always the best sense: “If O2 wants compelling content that users will pay for, and hence generate lucrative data revenue, surely it shouldn’t be doing anything that might add to the price (like charging a revenue share) or restrict the choice (like the official/unofficial divide)?”