B2B Marketing M-Commerce: Emerging Models in

India
M-COMMERCE
Given the advances made in technology, especially information sciences, the world has shrunk.
This has resulted in a big business opportunity. The IT industry has so far witnessed three major
changes. Each changeover has been marked by emergence of technologies that have dramatically
increased the number of IT users and applications, riding a new wave of growth. Elements of the
previous period remained, but new technology was the driving force in the growth of the IT
industry in the new period.
The first period marked the beginning of mainframes and ushered in computer technology, but
usage was limited. In the second period mini computers led the IT growth and helped automate
several business processes. The third period, which began some 20 years ago, belonged to the
PCs and client server technology. The fourth period, which is in its early stages, is the Internet
era or the wired market era. The wide and instantaneous reach of Internet displays its potential to
fuel another order-of-magnitude growth in the IT industry.
Mobile telephony has gained lot of acceptance in recent years. The annual sale of mobile phones
in 2001 has exceeded sales of PCs and TVs. It is projected that by 2004 mobile subscribers will
double from present 600 million users
The Internet era would be focused on the consumer, but driven by funding from large businesses.
The huge commercial opportunity of reaching millions of customers and the savings in
distribution costs, which the web offers, will make it the medium-of-choice in future. Internet
commerce or e-commerce would be one of the major applications on the Internet. Already,
corporates are using the Internet to deliver product information, establish corporate identity,
provide customer service, advertise etc. Internet also provides a cost effective communication
medium.
Apart from electronic mail, it can be used to make inexpensive phone calls, video conferencing,
real-time interaction etc. Now it is time for M-commerce and every body is expecting a big
boom in this sector in coming years.

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DEFINING M-COMMERCE
There is no precise definition for mobile commerce or mobile e-commerce. Every analyst,
vendor and trade magazine appears to have a slightly different interpretation of the term. In fact,
there appears to be a consensus now on the meaning of its big brother "e-commerce or e-
business" which came first.
Perhaps, in another six months or a year, we would come to a similar consensus on M-
commerce. In other words M-commerce is the use of mobile devices to communicate, inform,
transact and entertain using text and data via a connection to public and private networks. Mobile
commerce refers to any transaction with monetary value that is conducted via a mobile
telecommunications network.
This system works with the use of wireless technologies to provide convenient personalized and
location-based services to your customers, employees and partners.
In other words, we can say that M-commerce is a subset of e-commerce that deals with
electronic transactions using mobile communication equipment. It refers to electronic
transactions and businesses such as financial services or shopping, the only difference with e-
commerce being that the medium is wireless rather than wireline.
The current euphoria is driven by two factors: 1) cell-phones and PDAs have become mass
consumer products and 2) these devices are increasing becoming Net-savvy. Combine the two
factors with rapid penetration of Internet and Telecom infrastructure. Suddenly business houses
are realizing that it may make sense to serve these ‘on-the-go’ consumer base while corporate
worlds are waking up to potential wireless business applications.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN MOBILE COMMERCE AND ELECTRONIC COMMERCE

Frequently, m-commerce is represented as a "subset of all e-commerce" thus implying that any e-
commerce site could and should be made available from a wireless device. However, M-
commerce should be recognized as a unique business opportunity with its own unique
characterstics and functions, not just an extension of an organization's Internet-based e-
commerce channel.
Of course, there are similarities between e-commerce and m-commerce from being able to
purchase a product or service in a "Virtual" versus a brick and mortar environment.

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Technical Difference Between E-Commerce & M-Commerce

Technology E-Commerce M-Commerce
Device PC Smart phones, pagers, PDAs
Operating Windows, Unix, Linux EPOC, PalmOS, Pocket PC proprietary
System platforms
Presentation HTML i-Mode HTML, WML, HDML
Standards
Browser Microsoft Explorer Netscape Phone.com UP Browser, Nokia
browser, MS Mobile Explorer and other micro
browsers
Bearer Networks TCP/IP & Fixed GSM, GSM/GPRS, TDMA, CDMA, CDPD,
Wireline Internet Paging
networks

BENEFITS OF M-COMMERCE OVER E-COMMERCE

Ubiquity: The use of wireless device enables the user to receive information and conduct
transactions anywhere, at anytime.
Accessibility: Mobile device enables the user to be contacted at virtually anytime and place. The
user also has the choice to limit their accessibility to particular persons or times.
Convenience: The portability of the wireless device and its functions from storing data to access
to information or persons.
Localization: The emergence of location-specific based applications will enable the user to
receive relevant information on which to act.
Personalization: The combination of localization and personalization will create a new
channel/business opportunity for reaching and attracting customers. Personalization will take the
form of customized information, meeting the users' preferences, followed by payment
mechanisms that allow for personal information to be stored, eliminating the need to enter credit
card information for each transaction.
ADVANTAGES OF M-COMMERCE
 Increased reach: the presence of a wireless link between the customer and the service
provider eliminates the need for a fixed interface such as a computer for communication.

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Providers of e-commerce services can therefore reach customers over a longer range,
creating the opportunity for new value added services.
 Convenience: the small size and ease of use of mobile receivers, coupled with freedom
from problems caused by infrastructure, makes for a higher degree of user convenience.
 Customisation: the service provider has access to data about the user’s preferences and
status which facilitates better, personalized service. In addition, the service provider can
be constantly updated about the current status and location of the customer so that the
service can be customized; for instance, a request for a certain product can be met with
the nearest possible source.
 Quick access: connecting through a mobile is faster than dial-up connections using
wireline modems.

POSSIBLE APPLICATIONS OF MOBILE COMMERCE

Let us examine some of the traits and challenges of wireless computing. The biggest advantage is
‘point-of-activity’ computing. A simple ‘point-of-activity’-based wireless transaction eliminates
the need for PC in each machine-post, reduces time spent on data-entry / related paper-trails and
most importantly provides a real-time picture of the material movement in the shop-floor.
The wireless technology may provide more freedom and opportunity to work from anywhere.
WAP-enabled corporate inventory and invoicing applications may allow a sale executive, sitting
at a pub late at night and armed with net-enabled PDA, to meaningfully respond to an urgent call
from a top client and instantly book the million-dollar deal. This technology also allows the
geographically tailored services based on your current location. One can request his net-phone to
direct him to the nearest cake shop. On the flip side, the wireless service provider always
‘knows’ your current exact location - thus ads for a local restaurant may suddenly pop up in your
PDA.

Thus applications of m-commerce include-

1) Mobile broking facilities like automatic alerts for price changes, information about price
data,transaction of shares.

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2) Mobile banking services that promise to allow customers to keep track of their finances at the
touch of a button. Services would include recent account transactions, balances and cheque
book ordering, move funds between accounts, pay bills and issue instructions, with more
complex services being added as more sophisticated versions of the handsets become available.
Thus the main services will be checking account data and conduct transactions. Banking on
mobile phones is more convenient and allows for time-critical information to be sent.
3) Content such as news, sports and stock quotes
4) Services like travel reservations, ticketing, ordering gifts and comparison-shopping.
5) Mobile inquiry about availability of services in locality
6) Mobile-based entertainment services such as music/video
7) Mobile messaging
8) Mobile chat

KEY M-COMMERCE INITIATIVES

JINI
Strictly speaking, JINI is more of a distributed technology concept ,with less particularly
‘wireless’ about it. However, when SUN introduced JINI with much fanfare in 1999, most of the
exciting ideas were related to wireless technology. JINI is java-based protocol, which operates
one level above Java and allows smooth service portability across any two JINI-enabled devices.
Assume you want to print a photo from your JINI-enabled digital camera. All you have to find is
a JINI-enabled printer. The printer dynamically loads its "driver" object into your camera and
now the two devices can communicate smoothly. Note the absence of any static driver or
configuration mechanism. Each device provides specific services and the objects required to
provide such services can be dynamically loaded into the client (a concept similar to Java
Applet). JINI helps in creating compact intelligent portable devices without bloated OS or huge
memory footprints (you may remember that JAVA was originally invented as part of creating
intelligent toaster machine)
Back in 1999, JINI was projected to revolutionize the home and office appliances. Your JINI-
enabled refrigerator can check the milk carton (which is also fitted with penny-sized JINI

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devices) and send a message to your PDA - "You need milk; the date of your milk has expired".
Well, somehow JINI did not live up to its reputation and very few JINI devices actually came
into the market. Perhaps it was way ahead of its time. Perhaps Microsoft’s Universal Plug N Play
incorporated some of the same features thus diminishing the need for JINI. Or may be Bill Joy
(The Chief Scientist of SUN and Innovator of JINI), who blames JINI’s current failure to non-
standardization of wireless protocols, is waiting for a right moment to reintroduce it in another
shape and form into the M-computing arena.

Bluetooth
Bluetooth is short-range radio technology first proposed by Swedish telecom giant Ericsson.
Bluetooth enables wireless devises to communicate over distances within 30 feet without
bothering about the underlying operating system. The name Bluetooth originated from 10th
century famous Scandinavian king Harald Blatand (Bluetooth) who united the diverse religious
communities to form one great kingdom.
Bluetooth devices are small cheap radio chips, which can be attached to any number of electronic
devices – PCs, printers, mobile phones, modems or scanners. It completely eliminates the need
for cable connections as the device can transmit the same information via 2.4GHz portion of
radio frequency. Because the transmission is over Radio Frequency, the communicating devises
need not face each other (common problem with Infra-red transmission – the TV remote has to
point towards the TV). The electromagnetic spectrum it uses is reserved for home appliances like
Microwave ovens – so chances of interference with other mobile devices used by Military and
Police personnel is virtually non-existent. It can transmit data at about 720Kbps that is almost 13
times faster high-speed 56kbps modem. Radio frequency can penetrate through standard building
walls, so a Bluetooth PC can safely print document to the printer in the next room –a big plus in
creating a wireless LAN architecture.
Despite its rapid acceptance, Bluetooth is also noticing its fare share of problems. The Airlines
Industry has yet to permit the usage of Bluetooth devices during flight. -The jury is still out on
how to use it safely in the air. The price of a Bluetooth attachment is currently around $15 – that
is way too high for its prolific usage in low-margin consumer electronic devices. The price needs
to come down to at least in $5 range before it can be widely used. The possibility of frequency
interference still exists – in fact in recent CeBit fair in Hanover, Bluetooth suffered a big jolt

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when a much-hyped dynamic Bluetooth network failed because of interference. And finally a
new competitor has come – 802.11b.

802.11b
802.11b (alternatively known as Wi-Fi) is the wireless LAN standard that also operates on the
unlicensed 2.4GHz spectrum (same as Bluetooth). It can support data rate of 11Mbs (14 times
faster than Bluetooth). Networks using 802.11b standards are already up and running in many
universities and commercial places like Dallas-Ft. Worth airport. The latest Dell laptops have
embedded Wi-Fi technology. Its greatest boost came when Microsoft announced that the initial
release of Windows XP would support 802.11 b (and not Bluetooth which it may support
sometime in 2002). However, one key point is to be noted – 802.11b is based on Client/Server
architecture whereas Bluetooth follows more open-ended Peer-to-Peer standard. So Bluetooth, at
least theoretically, can have much broad-based appeal over Wi-Fi especially in consumer/home
appliance markets as those types of usage demand ad-hoc connections and perhaps can tolerate
slower data speed.

3G
Perhaps the most talked-about topic in the mobile computing world today is advent of 3G
wireless devices. The 3G technology can make the mobile handset (e.g. cell-phones, PDA etc.) a
powerful multi-media internet-enabled tool. A 3G device supports a transmission rate of 2Mbs
and is always connected to Internet (thus eliminating the need to dial-up).
Let us briefly recap the evolution to 3G. First there was 1G, which was based on circuit-switched
analog technology. 1G is only good for voice transmission; capacity is low and security is non-
existent. Second-generation protocol (2G) ensures digital encoding (GSM, CDMA). They
support limited data transmission capability (e.g. simple text messages). Internet access is
achieved by dial-up services. Most of the current cellular networks are running in 2G mode.
Then came 2.5G that supports Packet-switched connection (thus enabling better utilization of
band-range) and enhanced data rate. The 2.5G devices can remain permanently connected to
Internet avoiding dial-up hassles. EDGE, GPRS are standards related to 2.5G. The 2.5G
technology is slowing making its way in most advanced countries.

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3G has a clear edge over the above standards because of its vastly higher speed. Imagine some of
the exotic possibility:
Join in a videoconference with your project team while vacationing in Miami
Send your mom in Mumbai an instant picture as you enjoy the breath-taking view of Niagara
Answer your customer’s query by accessing the corporate Invoicing system while sipping drinks
in a pub
The main challenge for the road to 3G is the infrastructure cost and the willingness of the
customer to pay for 3G services. As the age-old rules of old economy (e.g. Profitability, Return
on investment) is also creeping into so-called new economy, the mobile operators may start
taking a second look. It is true that in Japan, Australia and most of the European countries, the
3G-bandwidth spectrum has been sold at huge premium. It is argued that customers will be
willing to pay for 3G services because of two factors: premium content (full browsing of
Internet) and value-added service (online gaming, automated synchronization of PDA etc.). As I
am writing the article I read the British Telecom is postponing its 3G launch by at least three
months (originally scheduled to start by the end of this month).
The other stumbling block is that worldwide 3G standard may prove illusory as different
countries adopt different evolutionary path to 3G at different timeline. Among the developed
countries Japan seems to leading the pack in 3G adaptation while U.S.A is virtually making no
move towards 3G in near future. Interestingly, if 2.5G gains enough mainstream acceptance, the
business case for 3G conversion may weaken. The 2.5G standard can be a much cheaper
alternative and can reasonably serve most of the text-based applications.

M COMMERCE ‘PALL BEARERS’

(Players involved in M Commerce revolution)
 Mobile operators: Although starting out as plain vanilla mobile service providers, these

have started launching m-commerce applications such as e-mail or messaging.

 Equipment and technology providers: They are the suppliers for both the infrastructure
and the software applications, such as microbrowsers, used for m-commerce.
 Mobile portals: These would be stripped down, specialized versions of traditional
websites. Important requirements would be personalization for individual mobile users
and provision of location-specific information.
 Content providers: these provide data such as news or stock quotes.

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 Content aggregators: These would focus on aggregating services, repackaging data and
providing customized packages to customers.
 Handset providers: These can play an important role in upgradation of handsets to
utililize fully the services and content being made available

M-COMMERCE IN INDIA
Although M-commerce is a huge step forward from ordinary e-commerce, it would act more as a
complement to it rather than as a substitute. Until now, the low penetration of Internet had been
hindering the growth of e-commerce, but the growth in mobile users should ensure that the
critical mass for e-commerce is reached quickly, increasing the overall market of the sector.

However, certain peculiar features of the Indian market, different from the already developing
markets in Europe, have been holding back m-commerce

1. The tariffs of mobile communication in India were much higher than that of fixed line
service (telephone). Hence, m-commerce was economically disadvantageous compared
with e-commerce, unlike in the west. High tariffs — at one time the peak tariff was
Rs16.80 per minute — deterred cell phone usage. The cost of the handset was also an
inhibiting factor.
2. Partly as a consequence of the above, the penetration of mobile services in India is very
low, not just in terms of numbers of units per person but also in comparison to fixed line
telephones. By end-January 2000, all cellular operators put together had a total of 1.66
million subscribers, according to figures compiled by the Cellular Operators Association
of India (COAI). In calendar year 1999, just over half a million new subscribers went
mobile, taking the total subscriber base from 1.02 million to 1.58 million. Of the
country’s total subscriber base of 16.6 lakh, close to half (7.12 lakh) of them are in the
four metros. The situation is not expected to change much in the future, unlike in Europe
where mobile phones are going to soon outnumber their fixed counterparts.
3. E-commerce itself is highly underdeveloped in India in comparison to the West, where it
is already a familar concept and fixed line e-commerce revenues have grown 20-fold
from $1.2 bn to $20.1 bn.

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4. Low user-base continues to hinder the growth of e-commerce and restricts the amount of
advertising the medium could generate. This is problematic as advertising is the major
source of revenue in countries where m-commerce is booming, as in European countries.
5. The small size of the phone's screen prevents catalog shopping or Web surfing.
6. Lack of content on the Internet, along with lack of sites optimized for mobile receivers.

REVENUE GENERATION FOR M-COMMERCE SERVICES

1. Advertising is set to become the key m-Commerce revenue generator in Europe, it
may not be as powerful in India for some time due to the small size of the screen,
difficulty in determining who pays for it and the presently small mobile user base. In
future, this methodology will also work as a big advertising media.
2. Financial services such as mobile brokerage, mobile payment and mobile banking,
will probably be the second-largest revenue source.
3. Actual mobile shopping (retailing, reservations, auctions, etc.)
4. Applications such as business, customer care, entertainment and security.
5. It may also be used as a loss leader for introducing customers to services which
he/she may not otherwise have paid for.

DRAWBACKS OF M-COMMERCE
One important drawback of the mobile systems is based on circuit switching technology, which
increases the cost and inconvenience for subscribers who wish to obtain data over mobile
phones.
The speed and reliability of current wireless communication is still a cause of concern. Most of
the current mobile network operates on modem speed (much less than 56kbs) – too low for any
meaningful web browsing. The development of 3G (at a speed of 2Mbs) technology promises to
alleviate the speed problem. Also, using new high bandwidth technology (GPRS), connection to
the wireless network would be speeded up, bringing information to and from customers at a
much faster rate.
The compact nature of mobile devices poses major limitations in terms of content display. Such
devices are ill fit for browsing stories or articles.

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However, the biggest restricting factor for mobile commerce is the security or rather the lack of
it. Two recent incidents showed the vulnerability of mobile devices against virus threats. Last
June, computer security experts intercepted Timo fonica, a virus designed to attack cell phones
with text capabilities. In September, came Liberty Crack virus, a PalmPilot Trojan horse. A
hacker can easily listen to wireless transmission and break into the corporate wireless networks.
The hacker need not even physically enter into the corporate building – he can simply tap into
the communications from the next building. Because of limited memory in small hand-held
devices, implementation of strong authentication and encryption technology is still a big
challenge – most m-commerce devices works with dressed-down version of SSL (secure socket
layer). Another unique problem is that PDA and Cell-phones can easily be misplaced or stolen –
thus they may not be used for even temporary storage of sensitive corporate information.
Other challenges include
 Creating the right regulatory environment
 Growing the domestic market
 Bridging the digital divide
 Breaking into non-English markets
 Improving global marketing skills
 Dealing with the global trend towards shorter lifecycles
 Migrating up the value chain from basic software maintenance to full-fledged IPR
creation.

DRIVING FORCES IN FUTURE

 If 2001-02 was a year of economic slowdown; retreat from technology and
hunkering down, 2003 will be a time of sorting out.

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 Wireless services will seek out new markets, embattled mobile companies will
stem a tide of losses and new technologies introduced will begin to flourish - or
fail.
 Falling prices of handsets, which once were in the region of Rs 15,000-20,000,
but are now falling below the Rs 10,000 mark.
The reasons are increased competition and fall in import duty on handsets (25% to
5%). The total entry cost - the cost of the handset plus activation charges and
security deposit - is under Rs 10,000
 Tariffs have also come down because costs for mobile phone operators have come
down after fixed licensee fees were scrapped in favour of revenue sharing.
 Most operators are now offering CPP-like (calling party pays) packages. Both
Delhi operators, Bharti and Essar Cellphone, have already reduced incoming call
charges.
 Although this does not affect subscriber-initiated m-Commerce traffic, it does
reduce subscriber resistance to inward traffic, which is essential for advertising or
marketing
 Value generation due to shift from providing plain vanilla mobile service to
service and content
 Move towards improved devices and handsets
 Improved security
 High prices of hardware used to access the Net was proving to be a significant
barrier in tapping the e-commerce potential in India. However, the growing
number of mobile devices should ensure that critical mass is reached quickly - in
the form of mobile-commerce.
 Mobile networks in India are technologically at par with those in the rest of the
world, unlike the terrestrial network which is much more backward, being based
on old copper wire line and narrowband technology.

The organizations, which are looking forward to profitable returns on their investments in mobile
businesses, must develop capabilities and strategies that leverage the unique qualities of wireless
Internet. The three elements for a successful m-commerce offering are as follows:

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1. The organization must hold compelling value for users
2. The organization must be developed dynamically

3. The organization must have a business model that can capture value

Areas ripe for foreign companies to consider Indian alliances include

 Strengthening Internet security
 Data caching
 Web-enabling legacy systems
 XML-enabled application integration
 Implementing e-commerce sites (eg. auctions, B2B exchanges)
 Developing enterprise portals
 Managing content-heavy sites
 Standardizing plug-and-play technologies, evolving WAP utilities, spinning off hi-
tech consulting services, remote education and training, and online market
research.

Certain industries, which stand to gain exponentially from developments in the mobile
commerce, are-

1) Telecommunications and networking: Recent developments in Bluetooth & Wireless

LANs, rollout of 3G networks, and new applications in wireless and networking
technologies including telematics and intelligent transportation, security, etc.
2) Financial services: M-commerce’s role in the financial sector both internally in large
and small financial institutions, and externally as a viable customer interface, and
3) Publishing, Media and Entertainment: Mobile content’s role, relationships between
media and publishing conglomerates and wireless service providers, evolution of wireless
entertainment etc.

LATEST DEVELOPMENTS
 A Bangalore-based company, Silicon Automation Systems (SAS), is working on
technologies that will go into next-generation handsets -- one that can handle multimedia

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on a phone. They're also working on a modem which can be used with a GSM handset to
transmit packet data, as with the Net, through a cellphone. Another firm, eCapital,
founded by Suresh Rajpal, the ex-CEO of Hewlett Packard India, is betting on business
applications conducted through a mobile phone.
 ICICI Bank has launched its mobile phone facility as yet another facet the multi-channel
approach. The subscriber’s mobile would beep for every cheque/cash deposit, withdrawal
and salary credit. To subscribe to these alerts, one has to activate the facility through the
Internet banking account or by calling the call centre.
 HDFC Bank already offers mobile banking to MaxTouch customers in Mumbai.
 Unimobile is 'virtual phone' that's designed to talk to any mobile gadget on any cellular
network in 91 countries around the world. The utility can be downloaded free from
www.unimobile.com. It allows receiving and sending e-mail besides services such as a
schedule of important dates on the mobile phone. In addition, it can beam services from
the Internet like news, weather, stock quotes, book prices onto the cellphone.
 With the launch of SMS (short message service), cellular operators like AirTel are not
only beginning to start the evolution of their core networks towards third-generation
capabilities, but also prime the mass market for wideband wireless services, using general
packet radio service (GPRS) as the first step. The cellular phone is being promoted as a
handy notepad, useful for sending and receiving text messages, short notes, memos and
greetings.
 BPL Mobile launched its mobile E-mail services in Maharashtra and Goa. The mobile E-
mail services would soon be followed by a host of other value-added Net-based products
and services such as mobile banking and mobile stock trading. The mobile E-mail facility
allows E-mails to be received on handsets and transmitted with a maximum message
length of 160 characters.

FUTURE TRENDS
Firms would pick services and content those fit current limitations and are most easily accepted
by customers. Examples include flight information, stock brokerage and banking facilities.

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Vertical convergence: Mobile operators would start to control more of their value chain and
move away from voice-only services. It could also be in the form of tie-ups between existing
players in the value chain, such as banks, with mobile companies, as is already occurring.
Investment by mobile operators in financial services, information services, entertainment
industry might be expected in the future.

Increasing use of the mobile phone for buying: Convergence of the credit card payments and
wireless will result in future. The major drivers could be existing credit card companies
themselves or major mobile phone companies.

Increasing reliability of security of information: Two main m-commerce technologies being

looked at right now are so-called "dual-slot" phones, which use a credit-card-sized smartcard
with a reader, and 'dual chip' phones, which have a second SIM card like the one most mobiles
have today. In both cases, the second chip stores payment information and transmits it directly
and securely to the vendor.

OUTLOOK AND PROJECTIONS

M commerce, to be successful, must hold compelling value for users; must be developed
dynamically and must have a business model that can capture value.

Indian software companies have evolved from mere body shopping outfits to serious players in
providing quality software services at comparably lower cost. A booming domestic market,
increasing use of IT as a productivity tool, growing realization that software is not freeware etc is
expected to drive software growth in future and raise its share in total IT spend.
The growth rate of around 50% p.a. will continue for at least 2-3 years. Later, this growth could
slow down, not for lack of demand but primarily for constraints in manpower availability. It is
estimated that trained manpower availability will rise at around 35-40% pa. Therefore, to
maintain momentum, major Indian players will have to move up the value chain.
Indian-made software products in the global market include banking and financial accounting
packages, enterprise management systems; multimedia based educational packages and VLSI

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design tools. Many of these have the potential to succeed. While India's low cost advantage may
diminish the skilled workforce, its high quality standards will give it an edge.
This would obviously require selling at still lower price points and revamping current
distribution strategies and marketing approaches. The Internet era provides another opportunity
to grab leadership positions - not only in the IT industry, but several other industries as well.
Companies, which are quick to react and take the initial lead, will grow faster than those who fail
to do so.

FINAL THOUGHT
The technology for mobile computing has only reached its infancy. It will be foolish to predict
the future standards and winners – some of the decisions may result more from geo-political
reality than from technological consideration. One interesting trend in the rapid convergence of
wireless computing, distributed computing and peer-to-peer technology. The only certainty is
that more and more IT applications will take M-route and so the demand for IT professions in
mobile technology will rapidly grow in next couple of years.

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