|
THE 3G BUSINESS EDGE
3G technology is not just about doing things faster but, to an
extent, infusing change in the communication habits and mind-set
of business professionals.
SAAD HAMAD AL-BARRAK
Managing Director
MTC
www.mtcvodafone.com.bh
Will 3G technology take off in Egypt? Experience elsewhere in the
region strongly suggests it will. Early indicators from Bahrain,
where 3G networks went online in December 2003, suggest Egyptian
business will welcome 3G, as the technology will provide more readily
available access to information at a faster pace. Bahrain's two
years of 3G experience, supported by customer behavior data, has
demonstrated how the speed of applications whilst on the move, and
the interoperability of the business with its clients, enables staff
to be far more self-contained out of the office.
To achieve this task, it became evident in a number of industrial
sectors in Bahrain, such as the financial and utilities sectors,
that a business professional's communication needs do extend beyond
simple voice calling and messaging. The 3G network has the muscle
to satisfy these needs with unparalleled efficiency and quality,
and this is forcing us to refocus our communication on high-speed
Internet access, video telephony and other advanced services in
a way that most business customers will need, understand, utilize
and - equally important - be willing to pay for.
Reflecting on Bahrain's 3G experience, it is outstanding how the
operation required offering the best seamless "mobility"
services wherever the customers wanted them, therefore exemplifying
how businesses need not be dependent on physical locations. Literally,
it was a new experience where customers felt the benefits of both
the 3G data card and handset.
TOTAL MOBILITY
FOR BUSINESS
For the business professional, working away from the office often
results in mountains of work awaiting their return. While laptops
have made strides towards decreasing the workload from time out
of the office, with 3G technology executives can continue working
on business trips because of the continuous connectivity the technology
provides.
Though voice remains the biggest mobility driver for businesses
for the time being, e-mail is emerging, especially with the increased
download speeds of attachments with a 3G network. Information-driven
professionals no longer need to return to the office to check their
e-mail. Now they can check e-mail quickly utilizing 3G connections
wherever they are. The ability to quickly download attachments has
been crucial to mobile business executives, for which 3G has been
a key driver to deliver.
Security firms, meanwhile, are discovering useful vertical applications
of 3G such as its video application, and as more of their employees
are deployed to guard sensitive sites they will seriously consider
migrating their communication technology to come in line with 3G.
They have discovered that the technology opens a world of visual
reassurance outside of the office and is not constricted by walls
and wires. And that makes for a well-tooled security professional
in constant communication.
However, the cost of 3G mobile telephony is driving the decision-making.
lf we can resolve this, then we may be onto something. While 3G
technology makers may overcome some challenges, in doing so they
may present a new set of challenges such as privacy and confidentiality
concerns.
moving beyond limitations
As is to be expected of a highly demanding commercial sector,
the business community in Bahrain is not entirely convinced that
a truly compelling argument for 3G services has been made - skepticism
that other operators around the world have experienced. This, however,
does not imply that businesses are not using 3G. They are. It's
just that it's more of a drip feed than a scatter gun, and there
are some fundamental reasons as to why this is happening.
3G's primary advantage is data speed; yet the vast majority of 3G
devices currently available on the market are optimized for voice,
not data, with a keypad designed for entering phone numbers rather
than text.
Many businesses are still using a version of the GPRS application
they started with and are still completing simple tasks with PDAs.
With the availability of 3G technology, existing applications will
start to work and evolve as they should, and perhaps a new class
of applications will emerge. Integration with IP telephony and the
use of location-based services may catch on. Regardless, the availability
of such applications or hardware is currently limited.
And for the high-flying senior executive, limitations do exist -
particularly in the area of global roaming. Great benefits will
be realized once 3G devices and networks are rolled out across the
major business hubs with a unified adoption of global next-generation
mobile standards. Certainly we expect more effective and efficient
global roaming service in the near future.
Looking at the various current telecoms industry players, trying
to justify the cost of video calling has been tricky and may have
been of little significance to businesses, but accessing work-related
data while on the move is a different story. The primary facility
that 3G technologies enable is not to make existing communication
processes faster for businesses, but to create new processes that
will change how a business responds in real time with better accuracy.
In short, giving businesses the edge.
Submit
your comment
Top
|
