Local content provider Info2cell's CEO, Bashar Dahabra, thinks WAP will be push-driven with consumers demanding information rather than receiving unsolicited content. SMS delivers the 'push' capability for WAP information services. E-commerce has been disappointing for many and mobile commerce will not be the panacea of all ills either. Of course, you will be able to order books, CDs and music and films, but mobile Internet will not replace shopping malls. Its application will be most profound in the consumer and business arena where you can convey large amounts of data quickly, anytime, anywhere.
Local content is the key to the success of wireless technology.
One of the reasons cited for the Internet not taking off in the region with the fervour of other markets was the lack of local content. Names like AOL and MSN means little to the Arab user who is interested in what's happening in his neck of the woods. For the mobile Internet to succeed in the region, local portals, banks and utility companies along with restaurants and shopping malls will need to capture a piece of the airwaves by disseminating information to the local user. Arabianbiz is providing exclusive content to Motorola's WAP phones through its dedicated WAP sites where you can check out movies currently running in local cinemas, squint through national, international and sports news that is relevant to the region, send e-mails and read jokes. Info2cell, which will soon shift its base to Dubai Internet City, is another provider of home-grown content with editors spread over Dubai, Amman and Beirut.