At the moment, however, it is the key to mobile information, mobile commerce and a broad range of internet services which can be delivered over the airwaves. It is the essential link between the internet on the desktop and the increasing capabilities of mobile phones, personal organisers and other wireless devices. M-commerce is emerging more rapidly in Europe and in Asia, where mobile services are relatively advanced, than in the US where mobile telephony has only just begun to take off. With the advent of next generation services, however, it is likely that the US will have closed the gap within the next few years. Everything from buying goods and services to downloading music and books and asking for stock quotes and geographic information.
Online banking is a typical application.
According to some estimates, the growth of mobile commerce will outstrip electronic commerce, nascent though that is, within three years. By 2004, there could be more than 700m mobile commerce users. These new handsets will need to have special capabilities. The content providers will know where their users are geographically and will be able to direct them to specific destinations - restaurants or theatres, for example. They will be able to carry out secure transactions.