INTRODUCTION

Mobile commerce is the term applied to online financial transactions - shopping or the electronic transfer of funds - using a mobile device. Mobile commerce transactions are being enhanced by developments in the world of mobile communication; emerging technologies, such as dual slot phones, are allowing for increasingly more sophisticated services. Successfully creating mobile commerce applications requires keeping a watchful eye on issues such as security and the standardization of retail and banking hardware systems. With mobile commerce initiatives expected to develop significantly, as mobile phone usage experiences unprecedented growth, MasterCard is emerging as a leader in advancing standards in the world of mobile commerce. The opportunities for mobile commerce services are potentially huge. As the mobile phone becomes an information tool and then a transactional device, the commerce value chain will potentially be disrupted and the revenue will be redistributed to different players in the value chain. For mcommerce solutions to be successful it will be necessary to make some changes to current mobile Internet solutions -- this includes the implementation of security solutions and better integration, targeting and personalization of services. mCommerce services will add a large amount of revenue to the mobile operators and applications providers if they can implement solutions correctly. IDC believes that for many mobile operators, the mcommerce element of their revenue will begin to rival mobile data carriage revenue in the long term. This is an opportunity not to be underestimated. There has been much discussion regarding the growth of mobile devices and mobile computing and the effect these technologies will

have on how we work. To understand the effect of mobile devices it is important to understand the state of the technology and the implications the current technology has on how we will work over the next few years. What we see happening: Most likely, over the next few years, mobile computing will remain a large niche market. The most popular applications for mobile computing will continue to grow, including traditional cell phone use, sending and receiving voice and short character based messages, using mobile devices to manage schedules, accesses tables (e.g. address books, tax tables), and checking in and checking out goods and people. With the small or limited keyboard, small display screen, and slow communication speeds it is highly unlikely people will give up their full size computer and work full time from a mobile device or surf the web using a mobile device. Most likely the Internet will be used as a central technology to integrate mobile devices. For short, time sensitive messages a web site can be configured to send a mobile user a message based on an event e.g. a stock reaching a specific number, a product being shipped from a warehouse, a patients vital signs reaching a specific point, or a product price reaching a specific point. The mobile receiver can instantaneously act on this information sending buy or sell messages back through the Internet. It is unlikely that you will see people surf the Internet and buying products using their mobile device the way they currently use a standard computer. Mobile computing has been touted as the next Internet. In reality mobile computing will not replace traditional web surfing but augment it. Mobile devices including cell phones, pagers, PDA's, GPS systems, music players, and game players are converging into one multi-purpose device. The benefit of mobile computing is that a small hand held device is a convenient way for people on the go to send and receive just-

in-time information. Mobile devices have small screens, limited keyboards, and limited networking speeds, making them great for sending or receiving voice communications or messages but not necessarily effective for surfing the web.

Many eCommerce sites and eBusiness applications are providing mobile services. These services let mobile users choose if they want to receive or acknowledge information from their mobile device

MEANING OF E BUSINESS
eBusiness is the integration of a company's business including products, procedures, and services over the Internet. procedures, and services over the Internet. You turn your company from a business into an eBusiness when you integrate your sales, marketing, accounting, manufacturing, and operations with your web site activities. An eBusiness uses the Internet as a center for all business activities. eCommerce is the online component of an eBusiness.

What is ecommerce
if you go to a shopping mall to look for a shirt, you may go into several stores. Your shopping experience includes checking the quality, size, color, and price of different shirts at different stores. Once you have made a decision to buy a shirt, you place it in your shopping cart and continue shopping at that store. When you are done shopping, you take your purchases to the store's cashier. To pay for your transaction, you could provide the cashier with your credit card. eCommerce uses shopping metaphors to define the process of gathering product information and purchasing those products over the Internet. The same metaphors are used for both business-to-business and business-to-consumer transactions. When reviewing products on the Internet, you are online shopping. You can place products you are interested in purchasing in your online shopping cart. When you are done shopping and are ready to buy,

you can click a purchase button and be moved to an online purchasing site. To complete the transaction, you need to supply the online purchasing site with your shipping address and credit card number. Online shopping provides information and activities that give your customers the knowledge to make informed buying decisions A consumer who is interested in purchasing a car may research the prices and features of cars online. They may visit the Volkswagen site to find information on the Passat, the Toyota site to learn about the Camry, and the Ford site to investigate the Taurus. They may also visit one of the online car aggregators like carpoint.com to get pricing and product information on many different cars. The Internet provides them with an easy way to shop for different products so they can compare features, functionality, and price online. For business-to-business transactions, online shopping may entail an Extranet (private web site) that includes information that business partners may need to conduct business. A manufacturer may provide standard product copy, product pictures, logos, case studies, technical specifications, and product availability on their site. A retailer may go to this site to download a product copy and a graphic for a mailer or newspaper insert. By accessing a business partner's online shopping site, the retailer can be assured that the picture matches the product and that the product will be available in the necessary quantities for promotion. Online shopping for business-tobusiness transactions speeds up the information-gathering and access process, providing timely access to accurate information.

Electronic commerce or "eCommerce" covers the range of on-line business activities for products and services, both business-tobusiness and business-to-consumer, through the Internet. This course breaks eCommerce into: Online Shopping - the scope of information and activities that provides the customer with the information they need to conduct business, and make an informed buying decision. Online Purchasing - the technology infrastructure for the exchange of data and the purchase of a product over the Internet. Online purchasing is a metaphor used in business-to-business eCommerce for providing customers with an online method of placing an order, submitting a purchase order, or requesting a quote

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN EBUSINESS AND ECOMMERCE

Most companies realize that the Internet is here to stay. Business leaders realize that in order to maintain their competitive edge they must become an eBusiness. But what is the difference between eCommerce and an eBusiness, and how do you know if you are just a business, have an eCommerce site, or are a true eBusiness? Electronic commerce or "eCommerce" covers the range of on-line business activities for products and services, both business-tobusiness and business-to-consumer, through the Internet. eCommerce breaks into two components: Online Shopping - the scope of information and activities that provides the customer with the information they need to conduct business with you and make an informed buying decision. Online Purchasing - the technology infrastructure for the exchange of data and the purchase of a product over the Internet. Online purchasing is a metaphor used in business-tobusiness eCommerce for providing customers with an online method of placing an order, submitting a purchase order, or requesting a quote. When you review information on products or services on the Internet, you are carrying out online shopping. While online shopping you may find a product you want to purchase, you place it in an online shopping cart. When you are done shopping and are ready to buy, you click a purchase button. You are then moved to a secure location to carry out online purchasing on the product. To complete the transaction, you need to supply your shipping address

and credit card number. These are the fundamental processes of online shopping and online purchasing. These processes are the actions that are referred to as eCommerce. eBusiness is a super-set of eCommerce. One component of transitioning your company from a traditional business to an eBusiness is when you incorporate eCommerce into your company's flow. For example, when your sales and fulfillment organizations can handle web-based purchases equivalently to telephone and mail purchases, you have started the transition to eBusiness. Your web site may have other activates outside of eCommerce. Most web sites, just like most brick and mortar shopping malls, have activities other then eCommerce. For example, when you go to your local shopping mall at Christmas you may find a Santa Claus. The mall provides the Santa Claus as an activity that drives customer traffic. The Santa Claus does not directly support shopping or help customers purchase items at any of the stores, however it helps the general sales environment for the mall. Similarly, you will have shopping activities on your web site, e.g., product specifications, customer testimonials, and product reviews. You may also have purchasing activities on your site, e.g., order forms, shopping carts, and credit card processing. To draw customers to your site you may include promotional activities, e.g., eLearning courses, entries for a raffle, discussion groups, or an advice columns. "eCommerce" refers to the activities on your web site including online shopping and online purchasing. Many companies have an eCommerce site but are not yet an eBusiness. eCommerce is the online selling component of a web site. eBusiness is the integration of a company's activities including products, procedures, and services with the Internet. You turn your company from a business into an eBusiness when you integrate your sales, marketing, accounting, manufacturing, and operations with your web site activities. An eBusiness uses the Internet as fully

integrated channel for all business activities. The following is an example of a company that has not yet become an eBusiness: You visit a retailer's web site and buy a shirt. When the shirt arrives it is in the wrong size. You decide to return the shirt at the store's retail outlet instead of mailing it back to the vendor. However, when you go to the store you are told that they cannot take returns from their web site. Since the web site is not integrated with the rest of their business activities this company is not yet an eBusiness. If the company had integrated their web site with their stores by providing access to their web site from within the store, by accepting exchanges for sales made online, and by training their people to support customers from/with their web site, they would be an eBusiness. eBusinesses do not consider the web site as a separate activity from their core businesses: The web site is integral to all activities at an eBusiness. Companies who are performing Businesses to Business activities become eBusinesses when they integrate standard activities with their web site. A salesperson considers their web site a sales tool. When talking to a customer the sales person takes the customer to their web site to give product presentations, provides the customer with virtual tours of the newest products, or shows the customer how to use a tool that the customer can use to configure their products. The Marketing Department releases products on the website first, providing online product presentations, eLearning courses, and brochures. Customer Support uses the web site to host FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions), support chat lines, and moderate newsgroups. Purchasing uses the web to obtain prices on necessary components and place orders, and Shipping uses the web to schedule deliveries and notify customers of product arrival. Within an eBusiness every department within the company treats the web as an important tool they can use to move business ahead.

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN ECOMMERCE AND MCOMMERCE

Is MCommerce an extension from ecommerce, in the same way as mobile Internet is seen as a natural extension from fixed-line Internet? Without doubt, relating it to the practice of ecommerce makes the market more familiar with the electronic payment concept, which could be introduced via the mobile platform with added-in personalized features. The difference between ecommerce and mCommerce is not simply the fixed and wireless aspects, but the potential to capture opportunities in a different perspective. On top of the "e" transaction, the mCommerce platform could also be a medium for "micro-payments" for public transportation, tolls, parking lots, and even for snacks from a vending machine. This could also be related to the mobile wallet concept, depending on whether this is what the market is looking for. Most of the attention on mCommerce focuses on the consumer market at present. The most commonly found mCommerce nowadays tends to be more information-based rather than transaction-based. Examples include access to stock quotes or for retrieving online banking information, flight schedules, weather forecast reports, travel directions, and dining guides.

FUNDAMENTALS OR BASIC CONCEPT RELATED TO MCOMMERCE

Mcommerce is the way of doing business transactions in the wireless net. Advancement of technology for mcommerce solutions development provide facility for paperless buying and selling of information, products and service through the web site typically by using mobile phone service. The user can view the sites on his mobile phones browser, can purchase the goods, or services over the wireless net. The Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) is a set of protocols that work with existing standards to make the Internet accessible through digital wireless devices. A WAP service include 3 parts. The WAP Service provider (mobile service provider) , The WAP content provider(may be an independent WAP enabled portal or the mobile service provider itself) and your WAP enabled mobile phone. When one person try to access WAP enabled site through mobile phone , the mobile service provider authenticates you on their WAP server which in turn will transfer you to their WAP gateway. During this time the call rate will be different. The WAP gateway then transfers you to the WAP service provider who will provide you with services such as news , e-mail etc. WAP phones have a microbrowser which allows to navigate the content like a conventional browser. WAP incorporates a protocol called WTLS ( Wireless Transport Layer Security) which enables authentication and encryption of data. WAP phones with GSM currently connect at the rate of 9,600 bps compared to 33,600 BPS to 56,000 BPS Introduction of GPRS will bring big changes for down load speed through the mobile phone. The document format is WML. (Wireless markup language)

You Can't Go Window Shopping With A Cell Phone

If e-commerce is a global shopping center, then mobile commerce is a corner convenience store. Early returns from Japan, and to a lesser extent Europe, have shown that mobile commerce is well-suited to inexpensive, consumable items: Ring tones, animated figures, virtual girlfriends, parking meter payments, and sodas. Simply put, mobile commerce today is superb for impulse purchases. And yet, ironically, the WAP experience is anything but impulsive. To conduct a simple mobile commerce transaction, a wireless subscriber must: (1) Have a WAP-enabled cell phone with the WAP service activated, (2) Place the phone into a WAP session and explicitly agree to pay a fee, (3) Enter a URL using a torturous keypad entry scheme, or, if the subscriber is lucky, thumb through several layers of nested menus and "next" softkeys to find a bookmarked URL, and (4) Navigate through the destination WAP site to make a purchase, and on and on. Even the stalwart early adopter may lose patience, and that's before the credit card transaction, since there is still no "wireless wallet." The impulse to buy is suffocated. In this paradigm of mobile commerce, who is missing? The seller! The most savvy retailers will build WAP sites and register themselves in wireless search engines, then wait passively for a subscriber to browse by. The vast majority of retailers don't know what a WAP is or that they're missing one. And yet, paradoxically, even the most low-tech retailer would love to attract wireless phone users, who increasingly represent the wealthiest half (or more) of the population. Under the WAP paradigm, retailers are relegated to passive status, and despite their desire to sell goods and services and their willingness to pay to promote themselves, they have no way to access the consumer. In order to sell, retailers need to be able to reach consumers and communicate their value propositions. Merchants and the media have evolved together in lockstep for a thousand years through print,

radio, television, and the Web. Today, merchants need a way to advertise on wireless phones, especially to consumers who are willing to receive their messages. The wireless Internet paradigm of today -- WAP -- does not fulfill this basic economic need.

The Dual Myth of E911 and Location Accuracy

The armchair quarterbacks of the wireless Internet reasoned as follows: Carriers will deploy new location technology in order to comply with the FCC's E911 mandate for 100-meter caller location accuracy; the same technology will be used by retailers to bombard consumers with coupons when they are nearby; and, retailers (for some reason, Starbucks is always the marketing example) will profit enormously, sharing their wealth with the wireless carriers. This vision is fraught with problems. How does the retailer know the consumer's mobile phone number? (Does Starbucks keep a list of names of every customer?) How does the retailer actually get the location information? How does the message actually get to the consumer? Must the consumer enter a WAP session and browse to the retailer's site in order to see the coupon? What happens if, heaven forbid, your office is located next to a Starbucks? Does your phone beep all day long? Various companies have engineered clever answers to most of these questions. Their answers call for investments in IT infrastructure that are formidable in complexity and cost. Some carriers are even commencing with these solutions, determined to realize a "dual use" advantage from their E911 investments and they froth over mobile commerce revenue projections. Now step back. Rather than engineering clever workarounds to the mechanical challenges of mobile commerce, let's question the fundamental assumptions. Should the same technology employed for E911 be used for commercial location services? And, even more fundamental, how important is location to mobile commerce? The system that handles emergency 911 calls, the Mobile Positioning Center (MPC), has a relatively simple job, which it must do with high reliability. The mobile switching center directs 911

calls to the MPC, along with the identity of the base station, which is hosting the emergency call. The MPC routes the call to the Public Safety Answering Point nearest to the base station, along with the cell phone number and the location of the base station. Emergency response vehicles must comb the coverage area of the base station, hopefully while speaking with the caller on his or her cell phone. As 911 gives way to Enhanced 911, the accuracy of the caller's location improves dramatically, from a radius of several miles to a radius of about 100 meters. Nevertheless, the basic call processing and response remain unchanged. While emergency call processing requires that the MPC must do a basic job over and over again without variation, like the sorcerer's apprentice, commercial location services place quite different demands on a MPC. Notably, the MPC must provide an interface to the Internet and dozens (or hundreds) of software applications, which make use of location information. The MPC must geocode, or translate, geographic information into street addresses, postal codes, and neighborhood descriptors, and the MPC must respond to inquiries outside the wireless network rather than merely reacting to handset-initiated inquiries. The unique demands of commercial location services will only grow, soon adding privacy controls of personal location data, rich billing system interfaces, and much more. Left unchecked, the MPC of the near future will become a "Brideof-Frankenstein," cobbling together the essential functions of emergency call processing with the complex and ever-changing needs of a commercial location server. The solution is to decouple emergency call processing and location services processing. Let the label "MPC" continue to define the emergency call processing system and assign the new label of "Location Server" to the commercial location services system. This simple act of separation removes frighteningly high processing loads from the emergency call processing system, while at the same time giving commercial location services leg room to grow as the industry evolves. More pragmatically, the dependence of mobile commerce on E911

compliance is broken -- the two can proceed with a high degree of independence according to separate regulatory and market demands. With the Location Server liberated from the MPC, we can now address the issue of location accuracy requirements. Do commercial location services require 100-meter accuracy? In the vast majority of cases, no. The earliest concoctions of mobile commerce showcased parlor tricks in which Starbucks sent a "$1 Off" coupon to the unsuspecting wireless subscriber just as she rounded the corner near the store. Why was this level of accuracy written into the script? Because it was possible with an MPC. But such accuracy may not be necessary at all. Simply being in the same ZIP code as a Starbucks is probably enough to merit sending an ad. For that matter, Starbucks is everywhere -- why does it matter where the subscriber is? Just send a coupon and let the consumer go to her favorite Starbucks. The question of location accuracy is not purely academic. There are enormous capital consequences for wireless carriers. Today's digital wireless networks (2G) already know the identity of the base station and the orientation of the antenna that is handling a call, information that can be readily translated into a ZIP code. Going from ZIP codelevel accuracy to city block level accuracy entails a massive expenditure of funds, either on network-based location technology or on GPS-enabled handsets. A modest proposal: Carriers should completely decouple E911 compliance from commercial location services. Location Servers, independent from MPCs, should provide ZIP code-level location data to retailers and other commercial software applications. This can be done today with minimal capital outlay and will serve the vast majority of mobile commerce needs, which are impulsive purchases.

The Answer Was Under Our Noses All Along If in this gedanken experiment* we have broken the stranglehold of E911 over mobile commerce, what about the equally tight grip of WAP? One needs to look no further than the typical junior high school for the answer. In the U.S., teenagers will tell you that Internet instant messaging is indispensable; in Europe and Asia, they will say the same about SMS. If these two global, and completely unplanned, phenomena could be merged into wireless instant messaging, the grip of WAP would be broken. SMS provides a convenient and scalable mechanism for retailers to push their ads and coupons to wireless phones. Instant messaging, through the all-important buddy list, is the vehicle for a user to specify his or her availability and to grant permission to specific vendors to send messages. The buddy list becomes, in effect, the dashboard by which consumers publish their availability and interests. Of course mobile commerce is not dead! Mobile commerce has been crippled by our overzealous drive to make it conform to the shape of E911 and WAP. We have tried to impose particular technical solutions on top of impulsive human behavior, simply because the technology was present. Mobile commerce does not require the accuracy of E911 call processing; it may not require much location data at all! Nor does mobile commerce require WAP, the grandly planned flop, when in fact the brilliantly accidental IM and SMS will do quite nicely. Gedanken is a German word for thought. A thought experiment is one you carry out in your head. In physics, the term "gedanken experiment" is used to refer to an experiment that is impractical to carry out, but useful to consider because it can be reasoned about theoretically. (A classic gedanken experiment of relativity theory involves thinking about a man in an elevator accelerating through space.) Mark McDowell is the president and COO of Invertix Corporation , a privately held company headquartered in Alexandria, VA, with

operations in North America and Europe. Invertix's mission is to enable mobile network operators to create revenue and customer loyalty by providing the world's most powerful end-to-end multimedia messaging solution The Mobile Payment Forum today announced additions to its leadership team, including three new members of the board of directors and a new steering group chair, following a significant year for the organization. Created in November 2001, the Mobile Payment Forum is still the only global, cross-industry alliance of leading organizations from the mobile and financial industries dedicated the advancement of mobile (m) commerce. The Forum focuses its efforts on standardizing the features and functions needed to deploy secure and convenient mobile commerce solutions.

ISSUES BEFORE mCOMMERCE

Security become a great issue as ecom and mcom services take shape. Issues such as signal interception and decryption used to be security and privacy issues, but with people transmitting credit card information, making financial transactions and accessing customized and personal data with their phones it must be handled properly. Just as on the fixed-line Internet, information can be intercepted and decoded. The longer the lag between the time the information is sent and it is received, the more opportunity for it to be intercepted. Wireless Internet technologies are all low-bandwidth, high-latency technologies. Most data and Internet services are operating at speeds of 9.6 kb/s to 14.4 kb/s, much slower than the average 56 kb/s dialup modem. The combined slowness of the connection and the time spent making the connection can make one transmission last from 10 to 40 seconds, an opportunity for the crackers. Security can be provided using digital signatures, which are the transformation of an electronic message using public key cryptography. Consumers would apply for digital certificates with trusted third parties, and would then be assigned the digital signatures which would tie them to documents signed and cannot be reproduced.

Phillips tied with visa

Royal Philips Electronics and Visa International formed an alliance to jointly promote and develop the application of contactless chip technology for payment transactions. The cooperation between the two companies will help promote secure universal commerce to the consumer and to businesses worldwide such as content providers, merchants and banks. Through the alliance, Philips and Visa intend to explore a wide variety of applications and engage potential partners, such as handset and electronic device manufacturers and service providers, in areas such as gaming, ticketing, music, mass transit, and home shopping. Both parties have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) that outlines the scope of cooperation between the two companies. full article Microsoft wants to use .Net to provide PC services through mobile networks, and hopes that mobile operators can be persuaded to buy in if they see that it can make money. Speaking at ITU Telecom World 2003, Microsoft chairman Bill Gates and Vodafone chief executive Ian Maxwell unveiled work on a new standard to deliver data services through mobiles. The companies want developers to integrate mobile network services such as messaging, location, authentication and billing into their applications.

Thoughts Of Microsoft
Gates said that a technical road map for the proposed standard would be published later this month, with a series of workshops beginning in early 2004 to discuss feedback. But Keiji Tachikawa, president and chief executive of Japanese mobile operator NTT DoCoMo, insisted that Microsoft had to learn from its past failures to persuade operators to adopt a proprietary approach. NTT DoCoMo rejected Microsoft's Passport authentication technology because the software giant had not been prepared to make it an open standard. But Tachikawa has left the door open on this initiative. "We do understand that Microsoft is making it clear that it will be entering the mobile business. As long as it keeps its standards open we will be interested in utilizing its technology," he said. Analysts believe that operators will climb onboard if Vodafone can make the model work. Steve Brazier, president and chief executive at analyst Canalys, told vnunet.com: "Operators are desperate to drive data revenues and have finally recognized that most of these revenues will come from the enterprise. "They are desperate to prove that they have a role to play in the data space other than providing bandwidth." Gartner analyst Nigel Deighton added: "Mobile operators are strong in micro-payments, authentication and roaming. "It is not that great a leap to see Microsoft using this technology to charge for software on a per usage basis.

Nokia tied with T-moble

The twelve-seat board now includes NEC Corporation, Nokia Corporation and T-Moble International. In addition to NEC, Nokia and T-Mobile, the board is comprised of representatives from 3, American Express Company, JCB Co., Ltd., MasterCard International, NTT DoCoMo, Oracle, Telecom Italia Mobile, Visa International and Vodafone. As illustrated by the board of directors, the Mobile Payment Forum has attracted key organizations from various market segments within the industry - including handset manufacturers, payment companies, mobile operators and technology companies - to its membership. The Mobile Payment Forum has also appointed Alessandra DellOtti, Vodafone, as steering group chair for the organization. The steering group is responsible for the review and approval of all technical activities of the Mobile Payment Forum, as determined by the board of directors, including overseeing the Forums three working groups. The Mobile Payment Forums working groups have made impressive progress on best practices and requirements for download mechanisms, secure two-way messaging, and form fill technologies, said DellOtti. In the next year, well work to finalize those deliverables, and continue to work on the issues our members have identified as top priorities - a global interface specification and third-party authentication - as we strive to further enable secure mobile payments. Over the past year, the Mobile Payment Forum has completed work on several deliverables, including an architectural framework document for its members, which provides a context for the Forums working group activities and a set of base use-cases. The Mobile Payment Forum also recently produced a non-technical white paper

with an overview of the Forums activities and business impact on the mobile payment industry. As a member driven organization, the Mobile Payment Forum seeks to address the requirements of both the mobile and financial industries while accommodating consumer and merchant needs for convenience, choice and security in mpayments, said Tom Manessis, co-president, Mobile Payment Forum. As we enter our second year, we will continue to focus on the opportunities and the challenges facing the industry for mobile commerce, andcontinue to work with other standards bodies to minimize redundancy in work efforts and ensure broad cooperation on non-competitive issues. Membership is tiered, allowing interested parties to join as either Principal or Associate members. Any organization with an interest in facilitating secure m-commerce is eligible to join.

mcommerce in Europe
The European Commission has been told to hold back from regulating 3G too tightly if it wants Europe to become a fully broadband-enabled society Europe's mobile phone companies are urging the European Commission to interfere as little as possible with the rollout of 3G services, amid concerns that forthcoming legislation on e-money could damage m-commerce. Senior executives from 18 European mobile network operators spelled out their demands in a meeting on Tuesday with top European politicians and administrators, including Erkki Liikanen, Enterprise and Information Society Commissioner. These operators -- all members of GSM Europe, the European arm of the GSM Association -- want the EC to take a hands-off approach to the third-generation mobile market, and believe it should not regulate the industry too tightly. "The Commission and regulators should recognise the adverse risk of inappropriate regulation and its overspill on to new and innovative services, including 3G," said GSM Europe in a statement issued shortly after Tuesday's meeting. In particular, GSM Europe is concerned that the e-money directive that was recently passed by the EC, and is currently being implemented by EC member states, could damage m-commerce. "The Commission should, with respect to the take-up of mobile commerce, ensure that mobile operators can offer innovative mcommerce services for their subscribers without being hindered by inappropriate financial regulation, that does not take into account the issues specific to the mobile market, such as pre-pay," GSM Europe

added. These concerns focus on the effect that the e-money directive would have on the pre-paid mobile market. GSM Europe is currently preparing a position paper on the issue, which should be published in the next few weeks. The e-money directive was implemented by the UK in April and will allow companies such as ISPs and mobile network operators to issue electronic money. This e-money will be stored on a device such as a PC or mobile phone, and will be accepted by a third party -- for example a highstreet store or an e-commerce Web site -- in place of cash. Experts have described the UK's implementation of the e-money directive as "liberal". Companies that opt to issue electronic money will not be subject such a rigorous regime as a credit card provider, for example, but there are still a number of strict safeguards in place. A wide range of other 3G issues were discussed at Tuesday's meeting, including infrastructure sharing, spectrum management and network management. In a statement, Erkki Liikanen said that 3G is a vital part of the EU's ambition of creating a broadband society. "I welcome the roundtable initiative with GSM Europe and today's discussions, which have provided a solid basis for a successful launch of 3G services in the very near future," said Liikanen. 3G pressure After spending well over 100m acquiring European 3G licences, mobile phone companies are facing up to the challenge of creating compelling applications and services that will allow them to recoup

this investment. With most industry observers believing that the prices for 3G licences were much too high, the pressure to succeed with 3G is immense. Organisations such as the GSM Association are making it clear that if the EC is really committed to the development of highspeed data services across the European Union must not start putting hurdles in the way.

BENEFITS OF MCOMMERCE
With the advancement of technology, more and more changes are being brought about in the means and manner of communication. Cellular, pagers, facsimiles, e-mails- all give the sender the satisfaction that the communicator is 'plugged-in'. Messages reach from one corner of the world to the other, almost immediately. Mobiles enable us to transfer voice through Short Message Service (SMS). A choice of other service like e-shopping, e-ticketing, ebanking, and e-brokerage can be done through one's cellular phone. Internets revolutionary solutions WAP and WML (Wireless Application Protocol and Wireless Markup Language) are applicable to mobile telephones also. When connected to a compatible PC you can access e-mail, send and receive faxes and even surf the Internet with your mobile phone. mCommerce offers the following benefits. 1. Considerable flexibility when conducting business. 2. Differentiation from competitors. 3. High customer loyalty. 4. Investment Security and Independence from platforms and network operators through the use of open standards. 5. Higher efficiency of field staff. 6. Lower transaction and personal costs. 7. Easy and more convenient access. Our workforce consists of talented and spirited programmers who can offer unique solutions for your mobile commerce. IT Outsourcing India offers Mcommerce software solutions for the following and more. 1. Shopping- order processing through mobile phones. 2. Access to stock market- trading in the stock market. 3. Access to corporate intranets.

MOBILE COMMERCE? WILL IT FLY IN THE U.S. AND EUROPE?

Zona Research Forecasts Japanese Mcommerce Revenues will Exceed U.S. by 60% Zona Research announces the release of ``Buy on the Fly: Is Mobile Commerce on Track to Reach the Promised Land?'' This Zona Market Report evaluates the mcommerce opportunity and assesses whether mcommerce is simply a case of media hype or is in fact a multi-billion dollar business. As NTT DoCoMo's overwhelming success with its i-Mode service in Japan fuels U.S. and European activity, wireless developers and application providers are still waiting for mobile commerce to gain consumer and commercial acceptance. Amidst this possible commercial windfall, wireless carriers and device manufacturers are struggling with fierce competition and the numerous standards necessary for mcommerce to become a commercial success. ``Buy on the Fly: Is Mobile Commerce on Track to Reach the Promised Land?'' provides perspective on ``where'' mobile commerce is headed and who might profit, during the early days of its evolution. In addition this Zona Market Report offers an assessment of mobile commerce standards, technologies, acceptance factors, services, sector revenues, and answers the following questions among others: What will be the top selling mcommerce services over the next few years? What are the potential revenues to be derived from mcommerce? What is the preferred mode of payment for mcommerce purchases? Will the U.S. be able to reach profits like the $3 billion DoCoMo has generated in the Japanese market? Are the numbers carriers provide accurate for sizing the U.S. market? ``Mcommerce in North America has its own unique character that businesses eyeing i-Mode's success would do well to heed,'' states Susan Billheimer, industry analyst, Zona Research. ``If the Japanese are gorging themselves on mobile Internet access, Europeans are conservatively absorbing somewhat less appetizing WAP offerings and sticking to their SMS snacks while Americans are still waiting

for the cooks to agree on what the mcommerce dish will be. How businesses address key issues will determine how quickly and profitably mcommerce takes off, and whether it will become a multi-billion dollar industry outside of the Japanese market.'' ``Buy on the Fly: Is Mobile Commerce on Track to Reach the Promised Land?'' is a Zona Market Report priced at $895/single user, $1395 for a multi-user edition, and $1895 for enterprise wide distribution. It is available now and can be purchased

ECONOMICS/SOCIAL ASPECTS
Mobilecommerce has been in existence for little more than three years, but due to its enormous capacity to affect "economic activities and social environments," it has already had a huge impact on retail, finance, and communications, representing 30 percent of GDP. The report from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development examines the past and potential impact that ecommerce promises to have on business and the economy. The report is broken into five chapters, which need to be downloaded separately, including "Growth of electronic commerce: present and potential," "mobile commerce, jobs and skills," and "Societal implications of mibile commerce," each with its own set of charts and graphs. Some analysis has permitted a broad-based policy reflection on the establishment of the various elements that can provide a favorable environment for mobile commerce.

Mobile content more successful than PC content

A report released by Jupiter MMXI, the leading Internet research company, shows that by 2006 European consumers will spend EUR 3.3 billion for content on their mobile phones, compared to EUR 1.7 billion on their PCs. At present almost all content is free online and companies haven't been able to charge consumers for it. Adult sites are currently the only type of online business that generate significant income from paid content. Of the EUR 252 million spent on content by Western European Internet users in 2001, 70% was spent on adult content, with the rest being generated mainly from games, finance and business news. While media businesses are launching paid content initiatives across Europe, consumers are still very reluctant to pay for content on their PC. According to a Jupiter MMXI survey 47% of European web users would not even consider paying for content on the PC Internet in the future. However, 16% of Europeans would consider paying for music online, a much higher percentage than other categories. Jupiter MMXI predicts that the majority of future consumer spending on paid content will come from broadband-related content that benefits from faster speed and 'always on' features. 67 percent of total European paid content spending will come from music, gaming, and online video in 2006. However, the vast majority of the Internet will remain free and there won't be a dramatic shift from a free to a paid Internet, especially among narrowband users. The only companies that will generate solid paid content revenues on the PC will be the ones that offer entertainment related content. Mobile phones are a much better billing platform than the PC. In 2001, EUR 590 million was spent by Europeans for content on their mobile phones, such as ring tones, logos, sports scores and stock prices. This is almost twice the EUR 252 million spent on the PC. By 2006, Jupiter MMXI estimates that consumers will spend EUR 3.3 billion for content on mobile phones, compared to EUR 1.7 billion on PCs. Future content available through mobiles will include enhanced ring tones and logos,

multimedia alerts (with audio and images), and electronic greeting cards. Electronic greeting cards will remain a popular, mostly free service on the web, but consumers will actually pay for them on their mobile phones, as they have been paying for ringtones and logo downloads over the last 18 months. "Increasing usage of Short Messaging Service on mobile phones is good news for the media industry. Newspapers and magazines struggling to generate direct consumer revenues from their Web sites have more opportunity to charge for content on mobile phones. They should use their Web presence as a way to promote mobile content with which they will be able to generate more revenues", concludes Olivier Beauvillain, author of the report.

BARRIERS TO M-COMMERCE
There are a few recognized barriers that seems to stop most companies from going online. The same things that stop businesses from going into mCommerce might also serve as opportunities for the wise newcomer if they can respond to the challenges from a position of knowledge, Taking this class will address all these issue. Let's take an initial look at some "opportunities you can take on according to a survey conducted by Commerce Net in early 2000. . Customer Opportunities & Challenges Business Opportunities & Challenges can't find what they want easily no good models for B2B sites images load too slowly difficulty sharing order and customer info with existing databases and applications internally afraid to give out information not worth the cost and effort no easy way to pay sharing or loss of proprietary info hard to figure out the ordering process it will add to our problems not solve them unacceptable Internet performance not worthwhile So, that's the basics. Next, we'll look at your reasons for getting into mCommerce.!

FUTURE OF M-COMMERCE
Mobile commerce will be a success, but wildly different predictions from two leading researchers have left the market wondering exactly how successful it will be Online purchasing is a metaphor used in business-to-business mCommerce for providing customers with an online method of placing an order, submitting a purchase order, or requesting a quote Mobile commerce will be a success, but wildly different predictions from two leading researchers have left the market wondering exactly how successful it will be. The two reports, one from IDC and the other from Forrester Research, put the value of transactions conducted on mobile phones in Europe at 25.6bn by 2004 and 3.2bn by 2005, respectively. Wireless and mobile communications analyst Tim Sheedy, author of the IDC report, believes mobile commerce, or m-commerce, applications are the "killer applications of the mobile internet". "Applications such as these are what's required to grow the market as organizations begin to launch such services there will be a huge levels of growth in usage of mobile internet," he said. IDC predicts that there will be more than 300 million mobile phone users by 2004. However, Carsten Schmidt, an associate analyst with Forrester, believes PCs will dominate mcommerce and that the appeal of mobile phones will be limited. "Pioneering European retailers have moved beyond the PC to offer Wap sites and interactive TV shops, but more than half of projects fail to meet expectations. Just because a retail sale is possible on a device doesn't make it probable," he said. Forrester predicts that mobile phone transactions will make up just three per cent of online retail revenues by 2005. Personal digital assistants are given just 0.1 per cent of the market revenue. The research firm said mobile phones only favour transactions that are timely, simple and location-based, and that PCs will dominate

mcommerce, capturing more than 80 per cent of the online market. The remaining 16 per cent is attributed to sales generated through interactive TV shopping. All of which leaves UK businesses planning mommerce strategies in something of a quandary of what to do about m-commerce. However, UK companies do not seem too worried just yet. A spokesman for eCentreUK, the most cutting edge of the trade associations in the five-strong Alliance for Electronic Business, told vnunet.com that m-commerce "isn't something we're really studying yet, although we do plan to in the future. Our members are still coming to terms with mcommerce."

MOBILE BANKING: THE ROLE OF BANKS IN THE M-COMMERCE ENVIRONMENT

The emergence of mobile banking services is already well acknowledged as part of a multi-channel distribution mix, yet the questions of the banks' ability to adapt to the m-commerce environment is hotly disputed. M-commerce creates new value chains and requires new revenue models - partnerships have already diluted the customer relationship banks once enjoyed. Questions surrounding secure and personalised value added services render the issue of electronic payment, and the related revenue it could generate, a real challenge for banks. Will the operators' SIM marginalise banking structures or will banks successfully transfer their expertise to the wireless Internet sector? EMC's Insights have been specifically developed to provide senior executives in the industry with concise management overviews of the latest developments in the cellular market place, typically between 50 - 70 pages. They are essential reading for executives who need to identify trends and deliver innovative products and services. The rise of mobile financial services as a delivery channel in recent years has been accompanied by many important questions. Financial service institutions (FSIs) are quite aware of the potential of mobile delivery due to its unique combination of portability and flexibility for users. Nonetheless, leading firms are still grappling with a number of big questions: Which devices to support? What technologies to build upon? How to integrate mobile services in a multichannel delivery environment? And where and when to implement and heavily market mobile commerce.

mbroking in europe 2001

Datamonitor's report, 'mBroking in Europe 2001'helps you leverage for future demand of mBroking services to retain your customers, or gain new customers seeking to trade 'anytime, anywhere'. The wireless Internet provides consumers with information from anywhere at any time. Active traders, the early adopters of European eBroking, find this characteristic ideal to their investment behavior. Early mBroking services, beyond transactions, include alerts and equity quotes. Such services alone would make the wireless Internet a useful tool to the active trader, but being able to transact upon receiving favorable - or unfavorable - equity information makes mBroking a necessary tool for the active

Asia/Pacific Wireless Financial Services

Wireless financial services are once again capturing media attention. As mobile penetration deepens in markets all across Asia/Pacific, there is a renewed interest in the wireless medium for a range of financial services including mobile payment, banking and certain enterprise applications. However, it is still early days and there is little consensus on how these services are developing and which are the best models for banks and operators to pursue. This study presents IDC's most recent survey and forecast data on the opportunities for wireless financial services. Data is presented across eight key Asia/Pacific markets and is substantiated with insight from interviews with leading regional players. A case study is included of the region's first conventional SIM Toolkit (STK) based multi-bank mobile banking project in Indonesia, as well as a short write-up of a Visa/SK Telecom wireless payment. The mobile commerce revolution that has begun in Western Europe and Asia is also beginning to impact Latin America. The number of cellular users in Latin America has risen dramatically in recent

years, and investments in infrastructure and the underlying technologies are ongoing. As a result, and as these trends continue, wireless will become the logical channel for delivery of electronic financial services to customers in the region. Latin America will lag other parts of the world, including Western Europe and Asia, in the rollout of wireless financial services. However, the growth and improvement of wireless Internet connectivity in Latin American nations is setting the stage for a significant increase in both wireless financial services investment and usership in that region. This TowerGroup Research Note reviews the current state of mobile financial services delivery in Latin America. It considers the factors making this situation possible.

North American Retail m-Banking: Still Awaiting a Catalyst for Growth

While a number of firms in the United States and worldwide have embraced mobile delivery of financial services data and transactions in recent years, most have introduced those services in just one, or perhaps a handful, of national markets. For the global financial services institution (FSI), however, it is essential to approach mobile financial delivery as an emerging global channel for delivery of information and services. Because of the multiple questions that remain around mobile delivery-such as device proliferation, noninteroperable networks, multiple carrier choices, and existing wireline access to the Internet-this process is easier said than done.

nearly North American attempts to jumpstart the mobile banking market have had limited success, and the retail banking industry continues to await a catalyst for growth. At present, with user numbers flat and spending in a similar situation, understanding why user demand has lagged and the characteristics of existing service

users is essential in understanding what opportunities do and will exist in retail m-banking. .

South Korea's Woori Bank: Lessons from a Mobile Early Adopter

While mobile banking services have lagged in many parts of the world, a few nations are showing that users with the choice of banking via wireline broadband Internet connections or phone-based mobile data services are in fact choosing to do both. .

mcommerce in European Financial Services: Is Europe ready for mobile finance?

As levels of handset ownership within Europe reach saturation and migration to 2.5G and 3G technologies occur, mCommerce will become the 'killer' application for financial services organizations. Mobile financial services strategies will open a significant channel through which organizations can add value to service offerings and differentiate from competitors. mCommerce in Financial Services: Is Europe ready for mobile finance? a new management report by Reuters Business Insight provides detailed analysis of the potential for mCommerce within the financial services industry. The report will cut through the hype of the past 3 years and provide you with clear, innovative and high impact mCommerce strategies.

Wireless Technologies and Related IT Spending in European Financial Services: Setting the Pace for Global Growth
Globally, the overall number of cellular phones has risen dramatically-by tenfold between the end of 1994 and June 2000. Western European nations have benefited from this trend and have on average the highest cellular penetration rates of any world region. This is the reason that Western Europe is playing a key role in the development of wireless technologies and wireless financial services. Because of the strength of wireless penetration in there, and given the growing interest in Internet access to financial services, wireless devices are becoming the dominant Internet access channel in Western Europe. This Note reviews the current state of mobile financial services delivery in Western Europe as well as the factors that have made this situation possible. Regional differences in the rollout of wireless financial services are examined, as are the factors that will promote the growth of wireless financial services in the region.

Mobile Banking in Mexico: Priming the Market

Despite the important progress of four Mexican banks that are providing limited banking services over cellular networks, Mexico is still in the initial stages of mobile banking development. The level of progress is a result of both the small number of financial institutions participating in this sector and the limited options the banks have put at their customers fingertips. Currently, the only service available for every mobile banking customer is the simplest of all: the ability to check account balances. More advanced services, such as transfers and payment for services, are offered by only two banks; and to date, the market has yet to offer highly sophisticated options, like m-commerce payments and interbank transactions. Among the

wireless operators, Iusacell leads the way, as it is the only one working with all four banks that provide mobile banking service.

Internet & Mobile Banking In China: A Market Analysis

In common with banks the world over, Chinas major institutions are launching Internet banks. In part this is prepare for the expected competition once the Chinese financial services sector opens postWTO. This updated Access Asia report covers the developments and strategies of the major banks, their Internet services and the prospects for further cyber-banking initiatives.

Wireless Technologies in Asian Financial Services: Business Trends and IT Spending

Not all of Asia has benefited greatly from the wireless communications revolution of the past 10 years. But the nations that have substantial wireless penetration rates as a percentage of their total population are now witnessing the rise of retail financial services that leverage mobile technology. Western Europe may be leading the charge toward wireless financial services, but financial services institutions in a number of Asian nations are hot on their trail. Across Asia, cellular phones are becoming the first massmarket Internet access tools. Financial services institutions rightly see the channel as a competitive necessity for reaching those clients. This Note reviews the current state of mobile financial services delivery in Asia as well as the factors underpinning this growth. It reviews developments in the region's major markets and considers

regional differences leading to a split between haves and have-nots..

SECURITIES ISSUES IN MCOMMERCE

Security technologies in the mobile environment, a vital but oftoverlooked foundation to mobile financial services, are set to undergo a radical shift over the next five years. This process will have a significant impact on the look, feel, and quality of the mobile financial services products and tools that can be supported. This shift will involve developments in several different areas, including important changes in the air interface environment. In the air interface, or the wireless link between the user's device and the handoff to the wired network, these changes will involve a widereaching shift from a variety of patchwork technologies to the broad emergence of wireless public key infrastructure (w-PKI). During these next few years, financial services institutions (FSIs) must carefully weigh the potential for development of applications within this new, end-to-end security environment. But because this process will take a number .

In Wireless We Trust? Perceptions and Physical Security of Mobile Financial Services

The issue of security in mobile financial services is more than just a discussion about the bits and bytes of relevant technologies. Unfortunately, a technology-focused security discussion overlooks the equally relevant area of security, one which is often underappreciated by financial services institutions (FSIs) in their mobile efforts. This additional consideration consists of the development and maintenance of trust as well as the strategies that help FSIs tailor user perceptions and habits in ways that build upon this trust within the mobile delivery channel. By standardizing mobile within a multichannel environment, marketing effectively, and introducing policies that suggest stability of mobile, FSIs can generate a sense of trust that will speed the uptake of sophisticated new mobile financial products and services. This TowerGroup

Research Note reviews the issues that user perceptions and habits have in the evolution and maintenance of trust in financial services,

Mobile Security and FSIs: Don't Wait for PAIN to Start Leveraging Gain
Security is an essential aspect of delivering sensitive financial data via mobile networks. But what is security and how much of this broad definition is it and is it not currently possible to achieve? Furthermore, how should financial services institutions (FSIs) weave a successful security strategy into their ongoing mobile development efforts or partnerships? These and other questions are essential for FSIs that develop, or partner with outside firms, to pursue mobile development and delivery. Mobile security is not simply a monolithic topic. Rather than approaching security as a single subject, mobile security must be segmented into four relevant environments that exist in the mobile environment. Each of these environments will, depending on the available technologies and information or transaction types, offer FSIs a separate set of technologies, software, and tools from which to work. And, while the ultimate goal.

MOBILE COMMERCE IN INDIA

IndusMobile M-Commerce makes shopping fun and easy for 2way text messaging (SMS) users. Already rolled out to over 500,000 consumers worldwide, our flagship product provides a turnkey wireless commerce solution that includes product searching, transaction processing, and order fulfillment. Mobile Shopping has never been easier! Consumers send a text message with the name of the product they want Within seconds, IndusMobile returns with the product price and availability from its database of 3 million+ CDs, Videos, DVDs and Books Consumers respond BUY to purchase directly from IndusMobile IndusMobile handles all registration, order tracking and fulfillment IndusMobile can easily be integrated with third party m-wallets or can stand alone Benefits IndusMobile M-Commerce helps carriers drive wireless usage and

reduce churn by offering a unique and compelling service to their customers. This product drives revenue through increased usage, product transactions, and personalized direct marketing. Specific benefits include: Driving customer adoption and increasing usage of 2-way text messaging (SMS) Increasing carrier loyalty while reducing churn Effortless integration - works on existing messaging platforms Turnkey solution - customer service, order and payment processing, and fulfillment are all packaged in IndusMobile MCommerce Customizable positioning that can be co-branded or privatelabeled Ability to tailor pricing, promotions and partner offers How to use the IndusMobile M-commerce service: User "texts" in a product request through their cell-phone, pager or PDA to IndusMobile's address or short-code IndusMobile's patent-pending M-commerce engine interprets and processes the request IndusMobile responds almost immediately with product information from our database optimized for the requesting device User completes the purchase by replying with a 'buy' command or one of our other commands to locate another item or obtain more information It's easy to complete your purchases! First time buyers register on the spot through interacting with a live a customer service representative or through our web site Once registered, users can make all further purchases simply by using their secure PIN Customers can make unlimited, no-obligation price checks at any time via text message

Mobile commerce,the next big wave in India as market matures

OneTele has today officially launched Mobile Ad Robot, the Smart Mobile Advertisement Server for wireless network operators and service providers. The product is the first to be publicly released from OneTele's line of robust and scalable back-end software platforms for mobile e-commerce. Mobile Internet analysts predict the revenues from mobile advertising and marketing to top $1 Billion already next year, due to the fact that there are 350 Million existing "ad-enabled" mobile handset users out there and the number of WAP-devices is increasing rapidly, too. By 2003, mobile advertising will surpass online advertising revenues. "Mobile Advertising market will grow extremely fast within the next 18 months. It will do to value-added services what the web did to the Internet" comments Dr.Venkatesh, Executive Vice President of OneTele. "We are proud to launch Mobile Ad Robot in the series of out Robot wares at this point of time, when the market has not yet taken off as analysts except. We are ready for the heat when it hits us. We are making pioneering efforts in intelligent and self intuitive wares for business applications and advanced research in artificial intelligence" said Group Chairman Dr P.V.Majeed while dedicating the product. OneTele's Mobile Ad Robot is a carrier grade solution enabling operators and service providers to send advertisements to mobile handsets in their network. Mobile Ad Robot supports direct advertisements or sponsored content and rich media such as ring

tones as the mobile media. The solution incorporates push and pull technology, advanced reporting and campaign management. With Mobile Ad Robot operator or service provider can ensure advertisers to reach their target audience. OneTele Communications develops and sells mobile commerce and mobile CRM software technology and related value-added services enabling smart mobile advertising and customer communication. The company develops mobile applications for next generation automation technologies for insurance, banking and financial services in workforce automation and customer contact automation. The company founders have professional backgrounds in mobile service development, wireless technology and technology marketing and entertainment. OneTele's strategy is to become market leader and increase our network of partners both in the India, Asia and Europe OneTeles products are developed in reaserch and development collaboration with Ivy League Varsities Telecom core technology group.OneTele is a next generation technology company incubated in Safe care Technology Business Incubator.