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Seminar tackles wireless investment
Thursday, January 25 2001
by Mary O'Neill


Investors need to follow the basic rules to survive, speakers emphasised at the
Wireless Wednesday session at the Sugar Club, Leeson Street, Dublin. 

The panel discussed the various merits and obstacles facing investors in the
wireless industry at a forum entitled "Wireless as an Investment Vehicle."



"Just because it's wireless doesn't mean you'll get investment. Like with any
investment venture, you need strength of management, experience and the correct
revenue model," said Don Harrington, Head of the Davy Stockbrokers Technology
Group.



Barry Murphy, CEO of Openet Telecom, believes that many companies have created
bad habits in the market by being too cautious with profits, thereby preventing
them from investing further. He sees the wireless market as a highly complex one,
as there are many players involved, from equipment vendors to content providers.



The forum also discussed expansion into the 3G arena, both in Ireland and Europe.
Interesting points were raised with regard to the Irish Government's attitude
towards the granting of UTMS licences to companies. 



Most of the panel agreed that the Government is right in adopting a "Beauty
parade" stance for the awarding of Ireland's 3G licenses.



"Ireland is a peripheral market. If you look at similar markets in the
Netherlands, Austria and Switzerland, the success rate of 3G has been
disappointing. Ireland needs to attract more bidders for more reasonable
licences. The key is to have one more bidder than there are licences available,"
said Jemma Houlihan, Head Researcher with ABM Amro.



The panel believed that branding will be important in the granting of Ireland's
3G licenses, with known brands like ESB and RTE having a better chance of coming
out ahead in the beauty parade.



Raomal Perera, CEO of Network365, compared the wireless industry in Europe to the
more successful one in Japan. He made the point that i-mode, the successful
mobile Internet service from Japan's NTT Docomo, has a customer base of 17
million, because it is a real and successful wireless application which everyone
can use.



"I-mode is a complete service, where technology is only secondary. WAP, on the
other hand, is first and foremost about technology and it is not user-friendly
enough. Investors in Europe need to take this on board," said Perera.



All speakers were in agreement that investors need to approach venture capital
companies with caution, as many of them are just following current trends in the
m-commerce industry.



"If a venture capital company has five investments which look just like you,
don't stay with it," warned Harrington.