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Instant messaging (IM) is a very widely used application on the fixed Internet. As a communications application, there are clear possibilities for enhancing the appeal of IM by extending its reach so that it is also available on the wireless network. The ‘anytime, anywhere’ flexibility of wireless could make the already highly popular IM even more widely used, by making it available to new users and by extending the range of circumstances in which existing users can engage in IM sessions.
The word ‘potential’ is used a lot when wireless IM is talked about. Wireless IM has the ‘potential’ to enable Internet service providers to benefit from mobile traffic charges. Operators can ‘potentially’ use IM to stimulate more traffic and improve customer retention. Presence management can ‘potentially’ be used outside IM to enhance mobile communications more widely. However, so far little of this potential has been realised, despite the fact that IM services have been available to end users for well over a year. This is because there are a number of substantial obstacles that still remain to be cleared before a smooth path to wireless IM success can be seen.
Key Messages
This report looks at these obstacles and what is being done to overcome them, in order to make a success of wireless IM. We survey what service providers have offered so far in the wireless IM area and what user uptake has been achieved. We analyse the prospects for wireless IM in the light of:
- upcoming technology developments
- mobile operators’ increasing need to grow the percentage of their revenue that comes form data services
- Internet service providers’ increasing need to produce revenue streams direct from end users.
Table of Contents
Wireless IM: the path to success is a bumpy one
What is IM? And what is wireless IM?
Why offer wireless IM?
Wireless IM services from operators and ISPs
Platforms and interoperability
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