It’s the same game, but the turfs different. The same questions, but the answers are just as intriguing. Welcome to the sequel: The Internet saga played on the real estate of the mobile phone, promising a ‘web’ spun differently.

As always, the infancy lends itself to a barrage of doubt. The wireless Internet is no different. Questions abound: Would the demand for wireless applications be forthcoming? What are the revenue opportunities that the new medium heralds? And finally, how do service providers jumping into the wireless pool shield themselves from the upswings of technology?

It is worthwhile to begin by examining the value proposition that the new medium promises. The possibilities of always-on connectivity and unprecedented personalization pack the wireless punch, whetting an appetite universal in nature. The understanding that the translation of need into demand rests critically on the aptness and quality of services served via the medium as also the prices of the same is commonplace. Service providers must, however, come to grips with the fact that a wireless adventure on Indian terrain would be more challenging, given that Indians are extremely deft in perceiving cost-benefit equations.

As a first exercise, access providers would need to identify customer segments based on their wireless needs. For instance, in areas where the take-off of cellular telephony has been modest, demand would be restricted to information services like commodity prices and weather updates (Refer to Exhibit 1 for a pointer to segmentation on the basis of mobile phone penetration). It is difficult to conceive users in these areas transacting via mobile gadgets. The technology most suited for such an environ is the Short Message Service (SMS) or an SMS-Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) hybrid, akin to the ‘SWAP’ (expands to Spice WAP), a christening of the service that Spice Telecom doles in Karnataka. ‘SWAP’ allows access to WAP content from SMS compatible handsets, the support for which is widespread.

The benefits of SMS or ‘SWAP’ are not difficult to gauge – customers need not upgrade to mobiles that support WAP, and operators overhauling their networks to support messaging may deem such investments as prudent, particularly if they can reap the benefits of scale. However, areas where the usage of mobile gadgets is dense would mandate a different approach.

Customers in high penetration areas of mobile phones would avail of time critical applications, such as banking and stock trading, services not rendered best by SMS, and thereby representing a genuine case for WAP. Of course, Circuit Switched Data (CSD) or High Speed Circuit Switched Data (HSCSD) is a non-starter – for meaningful services, WAP should be synonymous with the General Packet Radio Service or GPRS, a technology that enhances speed and reduces costs. The action in the high-density segment does not stop here. The emergence of a new bracket of users that may conveniently be identified as the ‘young-at-heart’ promises to offer the most exciting possibilities for m-commerce.

Who does the new breed consist of? Anyone – anyone who views the new era mobile device as the ultimate companion. Unlike a trader who may be pushed into using wireless, a member of the new creed is an early adopter, willing to execute what the gadget permits, desiring even more. Endowed with the enterprise to experiment, he is clearly about a mindset. Do the numbers add up? The class makes up a large chunk of the cellular population in India. The high value proposition that it engenders, coupled with a blistering pace of growth, renders the segment worth gunning for.

The key issue, however, concerns the modus operandi of tapping the ‘young-at-heart’ segment. Service providers hunting for clues on potential revenue streams may turn east, more specifically towards Japan. The i-mode is the first instance of stupendous success in the universe of the mobile Internet. What are the most popular applications? Downloading ringer tunes and trivial messaging. Who are the high frequency users? Teenagers. For an access provider or a content packager, the results may spring a surprise. But if you think that this is a ready verdict on the unpredictability of the wireless Internet, you are probably throwing in the towel even before the game has commenced.

That is not to suggest, however, that ignorance is bliss. It is merely a reinforcement of a rule rendered trite in sermons, but fresh in practice: ‘Horses for courses’ in three words or ‘being innovative’ in two. Isn’t the rule borrowed from the traditional Internet? Of course, and why shouldn’t that be: m-commerce is e-commerce served differently. While the shift from bricks to click is revolutionary, the move from e-commerce to m-commerce is Darwinian. It’s a different matter that the peril of translating everything on the web to feed wireless devices is stark. Clearly, wireless content must be more transaction oriented to be compelling. For a user, the greater the ability to transact via the mobile phone, the greater will be the perceived utility of the new medium.

So, what specific applications can be framed for the ‘young-at-heart’ Indian user? Is there a golden rule? Well, the Internet has rendered many a rule passé. But if there is an underlying premise that may be built upon, it’s this: Work on the impulse factor. The electronic wallet that the mobile phone would soon morph into conjures a subscriber who in many ways would seem to be a cash loaded customer in a superstore. Though it is natural to expect that when shopping by way of a mobile phone, the user essentially knows what to buy—the impulse factor is largely discounted.