M-Commerce - Looming Disaster, or Next Big Thing? The Digital Revolution is upon us, where business is being digitalised, transactions are fiction free and mobile computing is being talked up as the next big thing. If the IT revolution was driven by the widespread installation of computers, the e-revolution enabled by the Internet, wireless devices will be the enablers of mobile commerce. Yet, there is significant evidence to suggest wireless is a disaster waiting to happen.

Australian homes with internet access: 33% 

Australians banking online: 2.8m

Global Online Population: 429m

Number online by 2005: 1bn - and more in

   Asia Pacific than the US

Number of Internet Hosts: 129m

Number of Mobile devices: 640m 

Number of UK internet users: 10m with 35%

   using unmetered access

Europeans banking on line: 23m

US and European banking online by 2005:

  121 million

B2B Revenues by 2003: US$3,200bn

Wireless internet-capable device revenue by

   2005: US$73bn 

Broadband use will be 44 times 1999 levels

   by 2003

Average banner click-thru rate: 0.14%

US online consumer spending rose to $4bn 

   in August 2001