IT News On The Move

With the increasing competition and the struggle for eyeballs, media channels have invaded mobile devices like cell phones and PDAs. The challenge now is to provide solutions to fuel the growth of this service on mobile platforms.

'The government is going to fall', 'Oil prices to soar','Blasts in Ahmedabad', 'Bindra stikes gold', are some of the headlines we've been hearing on television news channels, on online tickers and websites, and also in the newspapers. Indeed, news happens so fast that every media conglomerate wants to be the first to reach you with an 'exclusive' report. And the latest route now is to get to you on the mobile phone.

Going beyond paper and the tube

Traditionally, news came in via newspapers. Radio and television also emerged as news bearers; each medium, in its own heydays, was considered the most effective carrier of news. Now, it seems to be the turn of the cell phone. Today, most media houses are offering free news services via mobile phones. Most of this communication has been due to Wireless Application Protocol (WAP), a standard that allows Internet access from mobile devices -- and other wireless data protocols like I-mode. I-mode is very popular in Japan and has certain advantages over WAP, including its programming language, which is a simplified version of the popular HTML.

News organisations like the Times of India, IBN-Live and the BBC, offer news services via WAP. As of now, most organisations do not charge for content, but the user has to shell out the operator's charges to use the Internet on the phone. These costs may be based on browsing time or the amount of data downloaded. A few media houses are also providing videos and images, at no cost. Text alert services too are a part of the news provider service.

A slew of new services are also cropping up. Notable among these is the Mi SMS service, which a typical mobile user can access by sending an SMS to 53838 with keywords to get general news, cricket and stock market information, respectively. The sender then receives a link that connects to the mobile Internet for detailed multimedia content. As sources in the Times of India say, "It has become obvious that we need to reach out to society via this untapped medium. When the Internet came up, nay-sayers predicted the doom of the print media, but it emerged stronger and proliferated even more. The same will be true for media houses with the mobile platform, as they develop."

Not all smooth sailing!

A Financial Express story published in the beginning of 2008 stated the intention of major international players, such as Fox News, to enter Indian markets through mobiles. Fox News was reported to be planning to reach Indian mobile users through services such as 'Fox News Mobile' and 'Fox Business Mobile'. However, nothing has been heard of these services since. And this is a problem area -- initiatives often fail to take off or are delayed for too long.

Factually, although a lot has been written about mobiles being the next big thing, it is still not being used much by Indian users for content access. While SMS-based interactive services and games are quite a rage and have raked in a fair bit of money (ask the makers of Indian Idol and other reality shows!), the news distribution business model has not really taken off. The problem perhaps stems from the perception that the operators may try to take the lion's share of the revenue as the final delivery rests with them. Take the example of Indian Idol, which generated SMS revenues of around Rs 17 crores in its first season. However, a whopping Rs 12 crores (approx) of this went to the telecom companies, while a meagre Rs 5 crores remained with the channel, Sony. It is experiences like these that are stopping media houses from investing or giving out their content.

Then there is the question of payment from the consumer. Most cell phone users may not like to pay for a piece of news that they can afford to catch later during the day, even though they may otherwise pay for an SMS or a value-added service like dialling-a-pizza. Also, the cultural and behavioural set-up of India is such that films and entertainment are bigger mobile markets than news. Also, listening to content over the phone is unacceptable, even though it may be interactive like the IVRS (Interactive Voice Response System).

Another common problem is that mobile TV technologies have not yet developed adequately, which hampers quality video broadcasts. The arrival of 3G mobile services networks may offer some solutions.

Then there are handset issues. A prerequisite is the activation of GPRS or General Packet Radio Service to access news services. Although most phones today are GPRS-compatible, what remains a problem is the compatibility of the news provider application with particular handsets. The quality of the phone screen and size are other problems, which could make watching news on the move seem an unattractive idea for a consumer.

Technology to the rescue

Whether technology can provide some good solutions to these issues is a vital question. To begin with, there need to be some defined technology platforms as well as formal tie-ups between technology providers, mobile service providers and news makers. Services like SMS or GPRS became popular only due to the efforts of the stake-holders and their contribution to the development of new technologies, and the enhancement of existing infrastructure Microsoft Comptia A+ Training.

IT firms can deliver effective solutions to media companies that can enhance their presence on mobile platforms. A uniform mobile publishing platform needs to be developed - one that can have multimedia as an added feature, allowing for the delivery of rich technology. Another solution is in the area of voice. Voice services on the Interactive Voice Response (IVR) platform can be developed for users. These services can be said to be similar to podcast services, which the users may subscribe to. And of course, they would be available on demand, unlike nagging SMS alerts. Also, with 3G and better facilities coming up in the future, live streaming of news clips on phones is likely to be a regular service. So development of appropriate technology to handle streaming data is another challenge area. As time passes, mobile-based news services are likely to get indispensable in the rural areas, so software to handle regional languages is definitely going to be a priority Comptia Certification.

Then there is the biggest challenge of all - developing news provision solutions on mobiles so as to accommodate the many existing different mobile platforms, with the unlikelihood of their convergence in the near future.

Moving on to mobile phone manufacturers, as the next wave of the knowledge boom is going to be on mobile gadgets, it is essential that users have access to well-equipped devices. Physically, better screen sizes, colour combinations and easy to handle devices are going to be needed. Internally, multimedia support and, of course, compatibility with services like 3G, is essential.

Finally, news companies need to realise the importance of providing quality content on the mobile platform. They first need to have proper targets, insights and strategic tie-ups. Though statistics suggest big returns on investments on mobile platforms, news services may not quite be able to catch up without the necessary groundwork. That done, a corresponding long term solution by technology makers could enable 'news as a service' like SMS, in coordination with service providers and news houses. But here, the stakeholder industries, as a whole, need to take a collaborative decision, as there are high risks involved. Well, at least on the financial front!