Cellphones: Welcome to the next level By Lorane Poersch Special to Globe and Mail The cellphone is no longer an island. Mobile technology is connecting the world with a billion invisible bonds and growing. We are now past the one billion mark of mobile users. Welcome to the next level. There are 1.3 billion cellphone handsets worldwide, a number expected to grow to three billion by 2008. The market for mobile data services, of which entertainment plays a significant part, is expected to grow to more than $100-billion by 2008. It's more than just talk - a cultural paradigm shift is upon us. For example, recent studies show that an increasing number of people are relying on their cellphone clock while abandoning their conventional wristwatch. Until recently, there were two items that most individuals would not leave home without: keys and money. The cellphone has entered this elite club and the cultural impact of that is staggering. In time, like the proverbial Pacman, it may even eat the other two up, as cellphones provide ways to pay for goods and control devices over wireless networks. We are entering the "all mobile" era. Nowhere was this more evident than at this year's 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, France, 2005. The conference reflected the exploding growth and vitality of an industry with no end in sight. One of the mandates of GSM is to focus on how to connect the next billion users and beyond — bearing in mind that there are 1.27 billion GSM users today. The potential of the market is evident as there are still some four billion people in the world that have never even made a phone call in their lives. "Record attendance at the 3GSM World Congress this year clearly reflects the scale and diversity of the mobile communications industry today," said Rob Conway, CEO and Board member of the GSM Association. "Our industry continues to grow and evolve at a dramatic pace, generating countless jobs and contributing enormous value to economies all over the world. The industry has become an amazing engine for economic and social development." The mobile phone has gone from being a high-tech expensive gadget to an almost ubiquitous commodity and soon it will be one. Owners of original mobile phones were limited to such quaint activities as using their phone to talk to other people. The Motorola "Brick" DynaTAC 8000x, circa 1983 and now exhibited in the Smithsonian, weighed in at 28 ounces with a suggested retail price of around $5,000. Four or five current model cellphones like the Nokia 6230 could fit into the "Brick" casing and offer video record and play, digital VGA camera, Bluetooth technology, GPRS, streaming video and audio and MP3 Player sell in Europe for about $250. Mobile phones are becoming more and more powerful — and more integrated in the existing, computer-based, multi-media environment in which we all find ourselves. East Japan Railway Company, NTT DoCoMo, Inc.and Sony recently announced they will offer a new service giving railway passengers by 2007 the ability to pass through ticket gates with their handsets. Vodafone will have 10 million 3G phones by March 2006 that handle full music downloads. "The most innovative usage of mobile I see is using the phone as a tool to buy a concert ticket", said Ralph Simon, who founded the first North American ring tone company, Moviso in 1998 and was co-founder of Jive/Zomba Records. "You don't get a paper ticket, but get a barcode sent to your phone. You then simply take your phone to the concert event, and your phone gets read at the turnstile by a bar code reader, which in turn recognizes your ticket purchase and lets you in. This is real and is about to happen." Mobile browsing will explode in 2005. With the continued expansion of 3G networks, real-time browsing or downloading applications from your mobile is about to get even quicker and easier. The mobile phone is different — mobile users and uses are different. The mobile phone is the most universal medium in the world: it is small, light, intimate and connected. It is personal, portable and pedestrian. It creates new behaviour and new expectations. Never mind all the different technologies. What it comes down to is understanding the user's real needs and providing the right strategies to satisfy them. The mass integration of mobile communication is changing the landscape of mobile revenue exponentially. While recreational use goes far beyond the scope of traditional usage, it's important to note that all kinds of companies are seeing the impact of the mobile phone in one way or another — either in their core business or as an effective new media for increasing brand awareness or improving productivity. Everyone has to have a Web presence. Very soon, every company will need a mobile presence. Welcome to the next level. Take note - it is nowhere near the last.