South Korea, in its obsession to replicate its DSL success in the mobile space has grossly missed the subtle difference in the roles of fixed and mobile technologies and also overlooked the fact that people buy solutions but not technologies. Technologies enable solutions to deliver a greater value and each technology synergizes differently with a given solution – delivering a different value system. That is exactly my point.

It is a fallacy to assume that Mobile Commerce will evolve as Mobile Internet, just because both of them use mobile as the means of access. In fact both have them have their own value systems, which largely dictate their role and application – hence their success in the market place.

Mobile Internet, the driving force behind WiBro in Korea is a fallacy in short and medium terms. People will use mobile in a very small way to access Internet as a horizontal paradigm but would certainly like to use mobile in a big way to access lifestyle and business specific applications - which will address their needs while “on the go". These needs are very specific and hence will be very limited in numbers, at least to start with. These specific needs will drive the vertical applications.

WiBro will not succeed as Mobile Internet and any attempt to package it as DSL will not help its usage either. What in fact will help it to succeed is applying it to access verticals. However, operators may find it difficult to swallow as they have build their business models as an access mechanism to horizontal spaces. The history is likely to repeat with 3G currently struggling to excite its uptake so will WiBro in the coming times.

The message is crisp and clear – Mobile Commerce is a different paradigm to Internet and any future attempt to replicate latter’s success in the mobile space will be an absolute fallacy and the operators are recommended to construct verticals in the mobile space to succeed , with each vertical addressing and synergizing with a specific “on the go” need.