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Alok Singh
Mobile enterprise solutions are gaining popularity around the world, what are its prospects in India?
These are interesting times for the business of mobile solutions globally. People are increasingly becoming mobile in both their personal and professional lives and more than 30% of the workforce in Europe is mobile. In India too, the mobile workforce is driving up demand for mobile applications. The market for these applications is being fuelled by the penetration of mobile devices such as laptops. Currently, the customers are using multiple devices for various services and content. This is also an opportunity for mobile solutions as it indicates a customer preference for selecting the best content and service that is there.
 And there are statistics to show that employees using wireless e-mail can recover about 55 minutes a day and this will increase to 80 minutes by the end of 2007. However, despite the fact that 82% of people claim to use mobile devices for business, just 12% of employees are provided devices by their companies, so the opportunities are still immense not just in India, but globally as well.
In providing the mobile applications, how does Nokia plan to overcome the QoS issues related to the mobile networks?
We work with some of the most demanding markets in the world, and the quality standards are the same all over the world. Ultimately, the QoS depends to a large degree on the operator's network. From our end, we ensure that the hardware and the applications are capable of offering the highest QoS levels. Also, our solutions work both on GSM and CDMA networks, so technology does not come in the way of customers using these applications and devices.
These applications may be e-mail, voice, or other enterprise applications and resources. Nokia's flagship products, the 9500 communicator and 9300 smartphones can allow users this freedom of using the enterprise resources while on the move.
Despite the acknowledged value of mobility within the enterprise, building a solid business case for widespread deployment requires knowledge and time. Mobile data is far from mass penetration.
Mobile data has taken off slowly, as evidenced by analysts' forecasts. RIM BlackBerry's 2 million customers represent just a fraction of the 2 billion plus mobile phone users worldwide.
What are Nokia's initiatives for promoting converged networks in India? Is Nokia also developing enterprise solutions for FMC environments?
Fixed mobility convergence takes away the problems of being stranded at one place. The opportunity for this market is huge. With fixed mobile convergence sure to come, the focus will now be more on IP voice and applications. Nokia has also acquired Intellisync, a leader in platform-independent wireless messaging and applications for mobile devices. The acquisition enhances Nokia's ability to be at the core of any mobility solution for businesses of all sizes, as many other vendors also use Intellisync's solutions.
Source: Voice&Data
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