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Chapter 3 E-business infrastructure 179

Wireless access devices

The main mobile access devices that site owners and marketers need to consider support for
in their customer and partner communications include:
Mobile phones using short-code response to campaigns or interactive sites based on WAP
or use of rich-media streaming supported by broadband 3G technology.
Personal digital assistants or smartphones such as the BlackBerry and Windows mobile
‘Pocket PC’ phones.
Traditional PCs such as laptops accessing the web over Wi-Fi.
Gaming platforms with a lower screen resolution accessing the web via Wi-Fi such as the
Nintendo DS Lite or Sony PlayStation Plus (PSP).

Popularity of mobile applications

Mobile technologies have been touted for many years as the future for Internet access. They
are widely used, but primarily for text messaging within Europe and the US. Mobile phones
are important in terms of paid content services due to their popularity in some countries
such as Japan. They distribute more content ($31 billion) than the total global content on
the Internet ($25 billion led by pornography and gambling) and more than Hollywood Box
Office’s annual $30 billion (Ahonen and Moore, 2007).
The benefits that mobile or wireless connections offer to their users are ubiquity (can be
accessed from anywhere), reachability (their users can be reached when not in their normal
location) and convenience (it is not necessary to have access to a power supply or fixed-line
connection). In addition to these obvious benefits, there are additional benefits that are less
obvious: they provide security – each user can be authenticated since each wireless device
has a unique identification code; their location can be used to tailor content; and they pro-
vide a degree of privacy compared with a desktop PC – looking for jobs on a wireless device
might be better than under the gaze of a boss. An additional advantage is that of instant
access or being ‘always-on’; here there is no need to dial up a wireless connection. Table 3.7
provides a summary of the mobile or wireless Internet access proposition. There are consid-
erable advantages in comparison to PC-based Internet access, but it is still limited by the
display limitations such as small screen size and limited graphics.

Table 3.7 Summary of mobile or wireless Internet access consumer proposition

Element of proposition Evaluation

No fixed location The user is freed from the need to access via the desktop, making access possible when
commuting, for example
Location-based services Mobiles can be used to give geographically based services, e.g. an offer in a particular
shopping centre. Future mobiles will have global positioning services integrated
Instant access/convenience The latest General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and 3G services are always on, avoiding
the need for lengthy connection
Privacy Mobiles are more private than desktop access, making them more suitable for social use
or for certain activities such as an alert service for looking for a new job
Personalization As with PC access, personal information and services can be requested by the user,
although these often need to be set up via PC access
Security In the future mobiles may become a form of wallet, but thefts of mobiles make this a
source of concern