‘New applications will drive success of mobile Net’

MUMBAI: Widespread mobile Internet usage has unlimited potential to change

the face of business, but its success depends on the timely development of new

applications designed for the unique characteristics of the mobile environment.

This was a major finding of the 12th annual Pricewaterhouse Coopers Technology

Forecast report.

In a statement released here, PwC’s (Mumbai) Executive Director Sharat

Bansal said that to be successful, mobile Internet would need to find its own

'killer applications'. "It won't just be the conventional Internet

delivered on a handheld device. This is particularly true in regions where

business professionals and consumers already have widespread access to

PCs", he added.

There were tremendous innovations occurring around the mobile Internet.

Presently, mobile handheld devices such as mobile phones and Personal Digital

Assistants (PDAs) have only small displays and limited storage. They lack a

keyboard and their wireless networks operate at speeds no faster than the

dial-up modems of the late 1980s. According to Sharat Bansal, the success

stories from the initial generation of mobile Internet applications will be

those that can offer compelling benefits in spite of these limitations.

Some of the findings in the report reveal that the mobile Internet would

succeed only if new applications were developed that could take advantage of the

unique characteristics of the mobile environment. New "killer"

applications that would benefit from immediate access to and timeliness of

information, as well as new capabilities such as location-based services, would

be critical in promoting mobile Internet usage. These will likely be much

different than anything on the Web today and will be unique to the mobile

Internet.

Mobile Internet will provide a critical channel for businesses to interact

not only with customers, but also with employees and business partners.

Business-to-Everything (B2E) initiatives or technology applications are on the

rise and will enable companies to leverage enterprise systems and increase

productivity and efficiency of an increasingly mobile workforce.

Businesses will use mobile Internet to reach consumers as part of a

multi-channel delivery strategy, combining the wireless world with conventional

Web, e-mail, "bricks and mortar" retail storefronts and call centers.

This implies that companies will need to build information systems capable of

handling customer interaction through all of these channels, the report stated.

Despite all the attention paid to third-generation (3G) technologies and

license auctions, the real development in the next couple of years will be the

roll out of 2.5G networks. This will begin with General Packet Radio Service (GPRS)

as an upgrade to existing GSM networks, which will provide an always-on

packet-based network and make the mobile Internet much more usable.

As carriers build out their 3G networks, their initial focus will be on

expanding the number of customers they can serve with current service offerings,

rather than on new broadband applications such as mobile videoconferencing. The

report mentioned that United States lagged behind other countries in the

adoption of mobile Internet technologies by consumers and businesses.

It also cited instances in the regulatory environment in many parts of Europe

and Asia, as one of the reasons that has led to a single wireless standard in

most parts of the world, encouraging users of telecommunications services to tap

the benefits of mobile services. This, in turn, has led to accelerated

innovation by global, non-US based carriers and equipment makers, leading to

faster deployment of enhanced wireless networks and more widespread use of early

mobile Internet applications in Europe and Asia.