In M-Commerce from the October 2000 issue of Business Communications Review, pp. Something big is at stake, and that something is the mobile Internet. Entirely new forms of B2C and B2B e-business will be invented and fortunes will be made. The mobile Internet phenomenon is unusual because it is centered not in the U.S. but in Asia and Europe, where mobile telephony is further advanced and PC usage is much lower. The leader in bringing mobile Internet services to market is DoCoMo, the Japanese mobile operator whose iMode service has attracted 10 million subscribers in less than a year.
Most subscribers are young, and they use the service to send and receive email.
Initial services are also available in the UK, and in the U.S., the Palm VII can deliver a wireless email and information access service. Sprint and other carriers offer some mobile Internet services but have yet to attract large numbers. Today's digital wireless networks aren't really designed for data, and are too slow for anything but the most limited Internet services. The real breakthrough will come with 3G, and it's scheduled to roll out in Japan next year, in Europe in 2001 and to hit the U.S. in 2003. HTML is a different matter, however, because it is designed for large PC screens.