Summary

Future consumers will always be “on” regardless of where they are. Mobile devices will become their life companion and personal assistant. Communication will still be the key function, however, information, personal expression and entertainment are some of the needs that will be fulfilled through mobile devices. Flat fees for data traffic have been launched in several countries, and the mobile development will be similar to that of the fixed Internet – flat fee-based and broadband. This will cause an extension of usage as we have seen with the fixed internet. Thus mobile services have to be part of the strategy of media houses, be it as a return channel for print, as context or location-based services, or as publishing channel for news. There are various possibilities to build up relationships with new customers and to intensify the commitment of existing customers. This is reason enough for Ifra to give its members an overview about which kind of services media houses are currently looking at, and give insights into their service portfolio, their business models and expectations on how the mobile market can be utilised to the good for newspaper publishers. This report can be seen as a follow-up to an Ifra report on “mobile services” that was published in 2003. This report is written by Kristina Bürén, who works for Ifra Sweden as a Business Development Manager.