SMS Messaging has recently been augmented by Picture Messaging or Multimedia
Messaging Services (MMS). While volumes have been relatively low initially, the overlap
between text messaging and e-mail marketing will decrease as there are more handsets
with larger screens.Mobile services
The services delivered for consumers, to date, have included transactional and informational.
Consumer applications to date include retail (WH Smith Online books, the Carphone
Warehouse), ticketing (lastminute.com), brokering, banking (the Woolwich), gambling
(Ladbrokes), bill payment and job searching. Some informational services based on personali-
sation such as those of Excite UK and Yahoo! have also been launched. These include
information such as sports news, stock prices, news, cinemas, weather, horoscopes and
reminders.
Services for businesses delivered by WAP are currently less developed, but are forecast
to centre on supply-chain integration where there will be facilities to place orders, check
stock availability, notify of dispatch and track orders.
Wi-Fi(‘wireless fidelity’) is the shorthand often used to describe a high-speed wireless
local-area network. Wi-Fi can be deployed in an office or home environment where it
removes the need for cabling and adds flexibility. However, it has attracted most atten-
tion for its potential for offering wireless access in cities and towns without the need for
a fixed connection. The Intel Centrino mobile chip launched in 2003 offers facilities to
make Wi-Fi access easier for laptop users.
For example, in 2002 some airports, cafés and hotels started offering Wi-Fi ‘hotspots’
which allowed customers access to the Internet from their laptops or other mobile
devices without the need to connect using a wire. This helped differentiate themselves
from other services without this facility. Wireless LANs are appearing everywhere. In the
US, network operators are expected to install over 55,000 new hotspots in the next five
years. At the end of 2002, there were 4200 Wi-Fi locations.
There was extensive media coverage of Wi-Fi when it was launched and, as is often
the case with new technologies, the technology does not appear to satisfy a demand.
TheGuardian(2003b) quotes Lars Godell, a telecoms analyst at Forrester Research. In a
recent research note, he saidTECHNOLOGICAL FACTORSIn 2004, 25 billion text messages were sent in the UK alone. The top texting days for 2002–4 show the
importance of this medium for consumers.
1 26 August 2004: 79 million text messages were sent on the day that GCSE results were announced;
2 New Year’s Day 2004: on New Year’s Day 2004, the number of text messages reached 111 million, the
highest recorded daily total;
3 14 February 2003: 78 million text messages were sent by Britons on Valentine’s Day 2003, six times
more than traditional cards and a 37% increase on text figures for 2002;
4 22 November 2003: 76 million messages were sent on the day England won the Rugby World Cup;
5 17 March 2003: 65.7 million messages were sent exchanging St Patrick’s Day greetings;
6 11 May 2003: 65 million text messages were sent on the last day of the 2002/3 season’s Premiership;
7 7 June 2002: England v Argentina, World Cup group match – 58 million messages sent.Mini Case Study 3.1 How impt is txt msging?
Wi-Fi (’wireless
fidelity’)
A high-speed wireless
local-area network
enabling wireless
access to the Internet
for mobile, office and
home users.