Music downloads on 3G handsets to feature at 3GWCE

October 14, 2004

A series of new applications that leverage the enhanced capabilities of 3G Mobile Phones, including online games, music and video downloads, are set to be unveiled at the 9th 3G World Congress & Exhibition (3GWCE) in Hong Kong from November 15-19.

Companies, like music download service Musiwave, are aiming to use 3GWCE as the launching pad for a range of new products and services, targeting Asian markets as the most advanced and fastest growing mobile market offering the greatest potential.

As a keynote speaker at the 3GWCE Giles Babinet has an ideal platform in which to deliver the message the telecommunications industry is facing a renaissance in Asia.

While some mobile phone applications are developed locally in Hong Kong or mainland China, many start life in Europe, only to be rapidly transferred to Asia for localisation, according to Giles Babinet, Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of Musiwave.

With China growing at a rate of forty million new mobile users every year, rapid implementation of 3G network infrastructure across the region, and a population that never tires of new phone trends, Asia is the ideal testing ground for innovative mobile services.

"In the near future, we will be seeing phones transformed into pocket-size jukeboxes, similar to Apple's iPod, enabling users to download, store and play a wide variety of music," Babinet said, adding he hoped to be able reflect this during his address at the 3GWCE.

"These new services play an important role for the music industry in providing an income stream that was not available while many young people turned to free sites to download music," he added,

A business that started in France, Musiwave allows consumers to download original music as ringtones and for entertainment, instead of the synthesized sound that most people hear today.

Other companies that currently develop 3G applications in Europe, but that are also speaking at include UCP Morgen and CinemaElectric.

Commenting on this year's 3G World Congress & Exhibition, Daniel Kirwin Managing Director - Asia Institute for International Research (IIR) said: "While many application providers are still based in Europe, we are already see the change starting to happen and the rise of application developers in Asia like and that are also exhibiting this year. In the future, we expect that this trend will escalate and many more local developers will be exhibiting at 3GWCE."