"A traditional business model in this sector has three levels; the network, services and retail sectors," Martin said. "However, once we add the data services required by mCommerce a lot more complexity is added."
While he indicated opportunities would arise in content management and described mobile applications development as an exciting sector, Martin was not placing any bets regarding billing, or customer ownership.
"The business model has yet to be perfected in terms of revenue divisions," Martin said. "Billing is a huge issue, and the uncertainty is making industry even more cautious."
According to IDC research, most of the applications will develop out of existing Internet or data applications.
"You have to think of it in terms of what people would be prepared to pay for," Martin said. "In Singapore they have already launched a Taxi SMS notification service, so you know when your taxi is waiting outside."
Stressing the importance of partnerships in the roll out of mCommerce solutions, he pointed out that value added services, from ringtones through to security and enterprise level CRM, already played a dominant role in the mobile market place.
"We are looking at a demand side environment, where partners will be central to providing the value added services, that drive the market" Martin said.
