Exact Mobile, a mobile Internet services company aiming to maximise its penetration into the South African WAP market, has contracted with CCH Hosted Services for its set of high-security, 24-hour support solutions.
"The performance and availability of WAP product and service offerings are fundamental to any WAP-centric business, and are also becoming increasingly important for Internet businesses," says CCH Hosted Services Nico Meintjies. "But the support and security of WAP operations is a sensitive issue involving significant investment in facilities, personnel, equipment and networks that must be continually upgraded and scaled as technology changes and businesses grow."
Recognising this demand, CCH Hosted Services will host Exact Mobile`s key servers, and provide the technology to support inbound and outbound contact activities. "Our services range from basic WAP services, to downloading operator logos and ring tones," says Gavin Penkin, Exact Mobile director.
"The servers are central to our strategy of delivering reliable WAP solutions to our customers and by partnering with CCH we have chosen a full end-to-end service with a scalable, secure, high-performance platform for the development, deployment and management of systems operations." "This business is all about high availability, capacity on demand, performance and reliability, all in support of our clients` strategy," adds Meintjies.
CCH Hosted Services` facilities can be accessed remotely, permitting clients nationwide - or internationally - to host their applications offsite; to have mirrored operations for immediate switchover in the event of business disruption; or to outsource their contact centre or service desk.
"In simple terms, m-commerce means buying goods over the Internet with a mobile device or through a wireless network. Sitting at your desk and ordering the new U2 CD via Amazon.com is e-commerce. Buying the same CD using your Nokia 7110 phone is m-commerce," says Penkin.
According to IDC, the number of mobile commerce subscribers (those who make a transaction via a mobile device) will grow from 399 000 in 2000 to 29 million by 2004. By 2004, 20% of wireless subscribers will be conducting m-commerce transactions, and they`ll spend an average of $75 on m-commerce transactions. The Aberdeen Group estimates that in 2004, 74 million users, or one-third of all wireless subscribers, will be logging on to the wireless Web.
"These capabilities exist today, and it`s just a matter of time before they become mainstream," says Penkin.
Local research house BMI-TechKnowledge Group analyst Brian Neilson says that by 2003, there will be over 500 million mobile phone subscribers worldwide and over 30% of these will be Internet-ready. "The wireless Web is not about news, sports and weather, but more about personalised Internet content and messaging for companies."
The available content and services for these devices is thin on the ground today. But an increasing number of wireless application service providers (WASPs) are gearing up to deliver dynamic, realtime, personalised Internet content to mobile users through a variety of devices, including a new generation of smart phones with integrated Internet microbrowsers.
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