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Mobile Net access to explode in Ireland
Tuesday, October 30 2001
by Matthew Clark


According to new research by IDC, 2001 is set to be a landmark year for mobile
Internet access in Ireland. 

The company says that wireless Internet access is undoubtedly a driving force in
the current phase of the information age. Part of the drive comes from customers
and staff looking for improved, real-time access to information and services from
the corporate sector, IDC said. 





The US-based research firm claims that the development of mobile Internet access
for customers remains in its infant stage in Ireland, with less than 10 percent
of companies offering Web sites accessible via mobile devices. Despite this, the
company says it believes 2001 will be a landmark year as many more Irish
companies embrace mobile technologies and provide Web site access to mobile
device users. 





According to IDC's eWorld data, penetration levels of mobile Internet access
availability should rise from eight percent at the start of the year, to 27
percent by year's end. Figures will be as high as 41 percent in large companies,
the company said. 





"The primary driver to deliver mobile Internet content is the ability to
provide core functionality such as detailed information about the organisation's
products or services," said Phil Odgers, senior project manager with IDC.
"Following this is key functionality, such as on-line ordering and special
content/services for registered visitors," added Odgers. 





The company says that for employees, the provision of mobile Internet content is
largely focused on e-mail provision, with 18 percent of sites already having
implemented this in Ireland and a further 18 percent to add this before the end
of the year. Other content types, such as inventory status, corporate directories
and group calendaring are slowly being made available. 





"However there are considerable sets of respondent sites that have no plans for
such mobile data provision," said Odgers. Seventy-four percent of sites either
have no current plans to implement customer-based mobile content or do not know
if they will do so. Sixty-three percent of sites have no plans to offer e-mail to
mobile employees. 







The company also said that despite the steady global shift of traditional
channel-oriented hardware and systems vendors towards direct channels, the
majority of Web sites in Ireland are still reliant on the indirect channel for
sourcing IT products and services. 





The survey, called "IT Trends and Expenditure in Ireland," also included a
number of other findings. The report incorporates the firm's new eWorld study and
provides information on the views, attitudes, intentions and IT spending patterns
of Irish companies from 2000 to 2005. It said that only 10 Web sites provided
content in the Irish language and these were not business-oriented sites. 





Additionally, IDC claimed that although the Internet continues to have a growing
importance here, "the expected shift towards newer and faster access
technologies, such as broadband, has yet to appear." 





Forty-one percent of survey respondents are not aware of "an Internet
marketplace and exchange or trading community through which multiple businesses
buy and sell goods and services," IDC said. 





IDC claims that by the end of 2004 there will be 1.96 million Internet users in
Ireland and total aggregate Web spending from 2000 to 2004 will be over USD12
billion.