Mobile email's time has come - for some

Mobile email is set to take off in the next three years, according to market analyst Datamonitor.

It predicts mobile operators' revenues from providing such a service will more than triple over the next three years to hit $600m by 2009.

Operators are particularly keen on delivering email to mobile phones because it gives them an easy way to make money off their newly-deployed next-generation networks.

Alaa Owaineh, technology analyst at Datamonitor, said: "Now that mobile operators have deployed 3G networks they have a lot of bandwidth on their hands they're not using. Mobile email is an easy way to make revenue off that bandwidth."

But it's not just the operators who are eager for mobile email, says Datamonitor. Half of 200 European enterprises polled by the analyst say they have already deployed mobile email solutions, compared to about 39 per cent in 2004 - and even more say they plan to deploy it over the next year.

Part of this enthusiasm is due to the fact that, according to Owaineh, vendors have already responded to IT departments' concerns about mobile email security and management.

The major mobile email vendors, he said, all offer security features and 'over the air' management of devices, whereby IT staff can remotely access and administer the software running on a device.

But on-the-go email is not for every enterprise. Owaineh estimates in the end 65 or 70 per cent of all enteprises will use it. So where does the triple revenue growth come in?

First, by winning business from those 15 to 20 per cent of enterprises that don't already have mobile email. But secondly, and perhaps more importantly, by getting more people within each enterprise to use the service - not just the top brass.

Owaineh said: "Right now there's a lot of demand for [mobile email] from executives and people in key positions - the issue is with breadth in the enterprise."

But things look good for the rank and file being set free from their desks in the near future. Whether enterprises deploy mobile email to a larger portion of staff depends a lot on pricing - which should be coming down, thanks to rising competition - and "operators flexing muscles and demanding from vendors to provide [users] with cheaper solutions", Owaineh said.