Mcommerce: Still Major Undiscovered Opportunities

Even if sales are burgeoning, there's still a lot potential to be exploited. Especially the healthcare and banking sectors should make greater use of mobile technologies. 390 million mobile phone users all over the world will be accepting mobile commerce deals this year – 100 million more than in 2002. In Europe alone, these sales will spell out upwards of 50 billion euros. But there are still major undiscovered opportunities.

The Federal Association of the German Industry is putting on a conference on Opportunities and Views on the Future of Mobile Communication for companies of all shapes and sizes in collaboration with Mummert Consulting AG and the Mobile Radio Information Centre in Berlin on September 30, 2003 . It is aiming at keeping them in touch with business models and market strategies that have already proven successful in this growth industry.

One of the frontrunners in exploiting the possibilities of mobile communication is the healthcare sector. There, mobile data communication provides patients with medical care wherever and whenever they are. And the MobiHealth Project of the European Union recently launched a field experiment in Germany for this new type of preventative medicine. There will be a greater range of uses for third-generation mobile radio systems (better known as UMTS mobile phones) in the future.

These days, most banks don't just keep in contact with their customers via internet or at the bank window. Almost every third bank will be investing in mbanking technologies by 2005. Mobile does everything from managing accounts and credit card functions right down to stock market transactions. Mobile phones could also be used in the future for making payments, as the latest study out of Mummert Consulting indicates. But, it's not just the banking sector and healthcare system that can profit from the developments in mcommerce. Practically every industry shows some potential. As Dr. Michael Rogowski, the President of the Federal Association of the German Industry, puts it, „The opportunities offered by mobile data communication are enormous, although often unexploited“.