The Hindu Business Line : Mobile but not melodious

Growing with the mobile phone's popularity is the demand that it be banned in public places because of its intrusive ring-tones. Is GSM jamming in the offing?

HOW many times have you felt annoyed when someone you were speaking with suddenly said, "Wait a minute!" and started talking into his or her mobile phone? Or how many times have you been upset when you were making a presentation and there is a continuous barrage of mobile ring-tones? And how many times have you cursed someone who is shouting at the top of his voice into a mobile phone just when you wanted some peace and quiet at a restaurant? Of course, you could be a culprit yourself.

Anyway, assuming you are one of the victims, what would you like to do about it? Europe, which has one of the highest penetration and usage levels of mobile telephony in the world, has a huge problem with this. And guess what the Europeans want to do about it? Right... They want to ban the use of mobile phones in public places. New research by Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS) found that more than eight in ten people in France - where 60 per cent of the population has mobile phones - favoured the blocking of mobile phone signals in public places. People in Finland and Italy - where more than 80 per cent of the population have mobile phones - were also in favour of the move (at over 70 per cent).

Rather predictably, younger people were less in favour of jamming signals at public places. For instance, a little more than six in ten under 35 were in favour of jamming compared to more than three quarters over 35 in France. And, it also looks there might be a bit of anti-technology coming into play with mobile phone non-users more supportive of jamming signals in public places compared to users.

In a press release, Alain Imbert, Director, TNS Telecoms said: "These relatively high levels of support for GSM jamming in certain types of public venues suggest that users and non-users alike feel that mobile phone usage can be intrusive and are keen to see measures taken to limit its impact." He added: "Similarly, there are many technical questions that need to be addressed, for example how do you fine-tune the jamming device to ensure that it doesn't affect mobile usage outside or near to the building that is using it?"

Another survey of Internet users and mobile phone owners in 30 countries around the world from TNS finds that a quarter of consumers in the US, a little over a quarter in Eastern Europe and a little over a fifth in Western Europe possess a "high" interest level in 3G applications. TNS determined that the greatest number of consumers with a high level of interest in 3G fell in the under-25 age group. And what are they interested in? Mostly e-mail, maps and directions, and latest news followed by payments, trading and music.

Service scores over price

Meanwhile, a Gartner study indicates that mobile customers are willing to pay more for the services that they need. Close to three-fourths of the respondents cited "complete regional or national coverage" as the dominating factor when choosing and sticking with a wireless plan, while only a quarter considered the cheapest price most important.

Similarly, international roaming and Internet and data services received eight per cent of total responses, while handset selection and price received two per cent.

Finally, new research from IDC reveals that the worldwide wireless and mobile infrastructure services market will reach $37.42 billion by the year 2006.

The last nine months have been particularly bad for the infrastructure companies, hit as they were both by industry dynamics as well as the economic recession and spending cuts after September 11. However, IDC predicts a compounded annual growth rate of nearly 15 per cent over the next four years.

As Richard Dean, Director of IDC's Wireless and Mobile Infrastructure Services program, puts it in a press release: "The deployment of Internet, intranet, extranet, remote access, and mobile networking infrastructure technologies has left end users at all levels of the corporate structure demanding increased network access to greater amounts of information from various remote locations - including airports, convention centres, and other points on the map.

As a result, Internet roaming is becoming more popular as more end users wish to access the Internet by using the network facilities and services of providers other than their `home providers.'

We expect demand for Internet roaming services to increase for a number of reasons, including increasing numbers of Internet users and telecommuters worldwide, increasing mobility of the global workforce, and increasing importance of data communications in the business world."

Meanwhile, another IDC report reveals that the worldwide revenue for Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) equipment in 2001 reached $1.45 billion, up 34.2 per cent from 2000, and is expected to grow to $3.72 billion in 2006.

"Mobile connectivity is being driven by the acceptance of wireless devices and infrastructure both in and out of the enterprise," says Jason Smolek, research analyst, Enterprise Networks. "Entrenched data networking vendors, primarily those selling LAN switches, routers, and IP VPNs, will integrate WLANs as part of their overall networking strategies."

nagaraj@thehindu.co.in

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