Mobile Monday, the Finnish-originated networking event for wireless application service providers, will host a meeting in Cape Town to help the industry gear up for the roll-out of 3G cellular networks.
The next meeting will be on Monday, 7 February, at the BandWidthBarn, and will be co-hosted with the Cape IT Initiative and the Wireless Application Service Providers Association (WASPA).
Greg Brophy, CEO of mobile information applications provider iTouch, will talk about the general status of the industry, including trends and tools that are becoming available.
According to Cape IT Initiative, Mobile Monday was started in Finland as a means to network among mobile application providers. Established in 2000, all its meetings are conducted in English. Later it became aligned to HP Bazaar, an HP division that offers support to mobile application solutions developers.
Mobile Monday`s objective is to facilitate business development within the mobile industry. While it is a monthly event in Finland, the local meetings are scheduled for every second month.
WASPA chairman Leon Perlman says the South African mobile applications industry is still getting itself organised and there is no clear idea of how many companies are involved in developing applications.
"Nationally we have about 50 members. However, we have no idea how many companies there are in the Western Cape that could be developing mobile applications. Many could be one man shows operating out of their garages."
Perlman says the industry is waiting for the guidelines on Vodacom Live!, the cellular operator`s 3G portal that will allow it to sell content provided by third-parties.
A number of the Cape IT Initiative`s members are developing mobile applications and the prospect of increasing growth for such services in SA and the rest of the continent is an incentive to get the industry organised.
International research firm Gartner estimates that worldwide cellular service revenue will grow 7.4% on average annually, reaching $676 billion in 2008. Low penetration rates in emerging markets will help drive the industry as a whole, while maturing markets are becoming increasingly saturated, it says.
Share
