Access to the Internet via cellphones has been available for a number of years. The experience is generally frustrating, as the Web sites accessed are mostly customised for PC viewing and not for the small screens of cellphones.
This is according to Riaan Groenewald, Multimedia Solutions operations director, who says while WAP sites are customised for mobile viewing, WAP site penetration is low, leading to limited options for WAP site surfing.
He adds that this is changing. The DotMobi (.mobi) domain was launched last year, and since its inception it has seen more than 600 000 registered domain names.
Similar to .co.za and .org domains, a .mobi domain, while it can be viewed on a PC, has customised Web sites for optimal viewing on a cellphone.
The market
Globally, there are close to 2.5 billion active cellphones compared to around 900 million Internet users, says Groenewald. Locally, the three cellphone networks together claim to have a combined base of over 36 million subscribers. There are an estimated 24.5 million adult TV viewers in SA, over 28.5 million radio listeners and about five million PCs and landlines.
Research company Gartner estimates 986 million cellphones were sold globally in 2006, and IDC predicts PC sales will reach 300 million in 2009.
Groenewald says this reveals that from an infrastructure point of view, the cellphone is now better positioned as a means for consumers to access information than PCs, TVs or radio. However, Multimedia Solutions research found 65% of people surveyed do not access the Internet from their cellphones and do not know what a mobi Web site is.
"However, when understanding what a mobi Web site is and that it is accessible from their cellphone, approximately 65% of people stated they would use the mobi Web site of the retailer once it was launched," he says.
Rising interest
While the usage of cellphones to access the Internet is dominated by business-related applications, new users are more interested in entertainment and social applications, according to research from Point Topic and YouGov.
Groenewald says the mobi Web site allows consumers to access Web sites for more than just work and that the mobile-optimised Facebook site is a prime example and contributor in raising awareness.
Tim Johnson, chief analyst at Point Topic, says: "Our survey shows there is a big potential market out there, but the vendors and operators need a new approach to take advantage of it."
The research also shows that while 57% of mobile Internet users today are under 35 years old, those who say they are interested in using mobile Internet in future cuts across a much wider demographic of gender, age group, social group and income.
Mobi benefits
There are multiple advantages to having mobi sites, says Groenewald. "These include improved access to information due to a larger market base than the PC market, and a faster download time (even over GPRS), as these sites are generally optimised for the cellphones."
He adds that unlike a mobizine - bite-sized files with words and pictures - which needs to be downloaded as an application onto a Java-enabled cellphone, mobi sites only need a cellphone Web browser and the network GPRS settings.
Furthermore, as mobi sites are interactive, they also allow companies to offer services to clients. Consumers can place orders and retrieve information directly.
"Given the PC and ADSL penetration into the market, it makes sense for South African companies to begin offering sites customised for the cellphone," he concludes.
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