secTIOn I: emeRgIng m-cOmmeRce Issues and TechnOlOgIes

M-commerce uses the potential of wireless technologies to expand the reach of e-commerce applications to any time and any place. Mobile applications can be used to support transactions with customers and suppliers and to conduct e-business within and across organizational boundaries and are becoming an integral part of an organization’s strategy. M-commerce has great potential to promote global trading and commerce across geographic boundaries. Currently, however, this great potential has been limited by different perspectives of m-commerce strategies and implementations in different regions of the world, as well as adoption of different mobile communication standards and unbalanced development of m-commerce in different regions. While mobile technology itself aims to get rid of geographic limitations and boundaries and promote global m-commerce, differences in existing m-commerce strategies/perspectives, mobile communication standards (especially in third generation [3G] and fourth [4G] mobile communication standards), and business models, have been confusing to m-commerce service providers and investors as to how to understand those different m-commerce perspectives/strategies and mobile communication standards. In order to successfully implement global m-commerce development strategies, these issues must be addressed. This book attempts to take a first step towards bridging that gap to explore and examine those important issues from the different perspectives of the three continents: Europe, North America, and Asia.