Branson and Snook outline 3G business models

NEWS Speaking yesterday at the opening of the 3GSM World Congress in Cannes, both business leaders - renowned for their visionary approach - told delegates that the industry must stop talking about what technology can do and start focussing on the services customers can use. They insisted such an approach would see companies survive the current downturn the market is experiencing. Snook, now serving as a special adviser to the board, said Orange plans to enable users of its 3G services to pay for micro-mobile internet transactions through their phone. He said: "Mobile billing is ideally suited for micro payment transactions." Despite Japanese mobile phone company NTT DoCoMo finding success with this system few European operators have been willing to commit to this method of raising revenue. However, Orange already has an agreement with Abbey National in the UK through which it will offer a range of financial services with micro payments likely to be one of them. Dr Michael Grant, principal consultant at Analysys, argued the bigger mobile operators will soon follow suit. He said: "It would be a big mistake for the operators to miss out on the opportunity to be central to the buying relationship with merchants." Snook was confident that through building this relationship the prices paid for 3G licences will appear conservative compared to the potential revenue. Branson was equally up beat, suggesting that music downloads, video and other "time-killer" applications will drive high revenue growth. However, targeting the consumer market before testing technology on the business community is a foreign concept to the technology industry - one Grant argued they must break through. He said: "For too long the industry has been dominated by engineers. What it needs right now is a clear voice about the direction of 3G and the services it can provide. "For the business market there are still issues with data reliability but both Branson and Snook have always been committed to the vision of 3G being central to everyday life."