Mobile TV is the latest thing to hit Malaysia right now, with end users able to watch television programs live on their mobile phones via EDGE. It is all about the convenience of being able to watch TV while they are on the move, commuting via public transport to work or home, and especially when stuck in heavy traffic.

Surendiran Velu, new head of Ericsson Mobility World Malaysia, says the streaming media service has created enormous attention in the developing nation that prides itself on innovative ideas.

Velu says it is now possible to watch television programs streamed live from a local TV station, as well as pre-recorded shows, music clips and movie trailers from other selected stations. The service is available at a promotional price of EUR 3.15 per month from now until the end of 2004.

SMS has been the biggest mobile data service so far. The cheapest SMS rate in Malaysia is EUR 0.01 per message, believed to be one of the cheapest in the world. This competitive offering is targeted at pre-paid customers and has mainly attracted the teenager segment of the market. At the moment, the dominant SMS applications are ring tones and chat, followed by voting, such as the Malaysian Idol program, a spin-off from the US-based American Idol pop music competition, and the sports channel ESPN, where viewers can vote in the football "man of the match" competition.  The trend for MMS-based applications is now picking up the pace with peer-to-peer applications and sports content the most popular.

Malaysians will soon be experiencing 3G services. Two WCDMA licenses have been awarded in Malaysia, one to Telekom Malaysia Berhad and the other to UMTS Sdn Bhd, the 3G arm of Maxis, a leading network service provider. Both are conducting trials and expect to have their respective pre-commercial launches in the first half of 2005. Velu says: "With the launch of WCDMA systems and the availability of the 3G platform, it will start to attract high-bandwidth application development that will lead to many more exciting and interactive premium services."

He has a lot of ideas he intends to pursue. At the top of the list is the Ericsson Mobility World Developers Day 2004, scheduled for November. It aims to provide in-depth knowledge of the latest mobile technologies and the opportunities available for generating exciting and commercially viable applications for business and end users. Velu plans to continue to cultivate the strong support from the developer community in Malaysia following the successful Developers' Day in 2003 that attracted 200 people.

He is looking into setting up a similar event specifically for university students. "There is a plan to increase collaboration with universities and other groups. It is an industry issue. We need to communicate what the industry needs and to prepare them for the future. That means continuous updates on what is happening right now and especially on what is yet to come," he says.

Another bullet on his to-do list is improving the whole industry's connections with legal entities. He wants to champion the creation of a good legal standard guide that service providers and content providers can consult. The first step is initiating dialog between the legal experts with all parties involved.

"Legal proceedings concerning pricing and tariffs are complicated for operators and content providers, especially in the context of international roaming when the user travels and uses the phone in other countries," Velu says. "A fine balance is needed to ensure that all parties involved profit from this business.

"The market is so vibrant that it's important that all sectors of the society ? from service providers and content providers to various other industries such as media, universities, legal entities and many more ? work in tandem to get the entire mobile market moving even faster."

Karin Hanson