Mobile commerce is developing at different rates and in different directions depending on the region

(PRWEB) August 5, 2004 -- Research and Markets announces the addition of this new report entitled "Mobile Commerce (M-commerce) & Micropayment Strategies" to its offerings.

Mobile commerce is developing at different rates and in different directions depending on the region. The European market, with its high mobile penetration is currently developing along SMS lines while in the Far East (in particular Japan and South Korea) the technology has already gone a few steps further towards wireless enabled or contactless transactions. The extent of the business already conducted in these two regions in particular suggests that m-commerce has already gained a momentum. The industrys aim is to put in place secure and easy to use technologies for mobile commerce. This will enable mobile operators to fulfil their desire to push more users towards 3G and multimedia services and therefore increase their ARPU. It will also have other effects. Merchants and financial institutions (credit card companies in particular) are recognising the opportunity and exploring additional avenues for the technology. This is a potential sticking point for operators. If a handset has contactless technology such as RFID, proximity payments can be made without using the mobile network.

This report has a number of goals, the first of which is to determine whether or not there is an opportunity for a sustainable international market for mobile commerce, both in terms of goods and services, and technical capability.

Secondly, to examine how the opportunity can be realised looking at the infrastrcture needs of operators, banks and merchants as well as the specific application of goods and services such as ringtones, games, tickets and retail point of sale.

Finally, the report examines the potential pitfalls, the security issues, the availability of standards and the trends in the financial community. The ultimate question is asked and answered: Can mobile micropayments eventually replace cash in everyday transations?

Companies mentioned in this report include:ACI Worldwide, AEON Credit, Agilent, Akadia, ARM, AT&T Wireless, Atlas Telecom Group, Bango.net, BarclayCard Merchant Services, Bibit, Bluefish Technologies, BPL Mobile, C3, Cadbury India, Cellenium, Certicom, Chartwell Technology, Cingular Wireless, Clear2Pay, Coca Cola, CodeToys, Compaq, ContoPronto, CrossCheck, CSAM, CTI Labs, Dutch Railway Co, East Japan Railway Co, e-Bay, E-Cube India, EDS, Encorus, EngWah Cinemas, Entrust, Ericsson, Extended Systems, First Sound, Gemplus, Golden Palace, Harex InfoTech, High Energy Magic, Hong Kong CSL, ID Data Technologies, In2M, Indian Rail, Ingenico, Innovision Research and Technology, Inphomatch, JCB USA, KDDI, Link Evolution, LINK Interchange Network, LogicaCMG, Magex, MasterCard, McDonald's, Metro Group, Mobikom Austria, Mobilcom, Mobile Lottery,Mobile Message Centre, MobileATM, MobileMelodies.com, Mobileway, Mobiqa, Morse, Motient Corporation, Motorola, MX Telecom, NatWest Bank, NCR, NEC, NetBanx, Nippon Shinpan, Nokia, Noordned Public Transport, Nordea Bank, Norwegian, Novalog, nReach, NTTDoCoMo, O2,OMCCard, Opera Telecom, Oracle, Orange, Oslo Taxis, Palm, Panasonic, Park Mobile, Park Smart Technologies, PayPal, Personal Solutions

For a complete index of this report click on http://www.researchandmarkets.com/reports/220686

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