The article deals with new technologies or, to be more precise, with the influence of these technologies on the life-style of society. We would like to acquaint you with the experience accumulated abroad:  the changes in human life as a result of introducing of new systems and mobile technologies.  In particular the changes affecting society as a whole.

Five years have passed since the first mobile communication company appeared in Georgia.  During this time the number of operators has reached four, while the total number of subscribers is expected to exceed 100,000 by September 2000.  Modern GSM networks, which closely follow European technologies, are already available in Georgia.  New generation systems, considered to be advanced technologies even for highly developed countries, are soon to be introduced.

In the previous issue we dwelt on the system of information searching via the mobile phone and mentioned WAP, which allows subscribers to use mobile phones for information searching on the Internet. We also spoke of GPRS, which will increase connection speed to such a rate that it will compete with the speed of Internet access currently attained when using fixed networks. Experts predict an optimistic future in this aspect: in five years the number of mobile Internet users could be several times more than that of fixed networks. Mobile network subscribers will be able to use Internet access to view millions of web-sites.

Apart from purely technical and technological issues of these processes, of no less importance are the changes which will take place in the society as a result of establishing the system. Mobile Internet and information searching via the mobile phone will significantly alter the way of society's thinking and make for the establishing of a new sphere of public activity. The symbiosis of mobile connection and Internet as a major source of information will lead to mobile solutions.

Mobile solutions are a new phenomena, not properly comprehended yet, though its role in the establishing of a new type of public thinking is already clear. The society armed with mobile solutions will become a key-factor in social dynamics and economic progress. One of its proofs is the first-year experience of I-mode, the mobile Internet system of the Japanese company DoCoMo. It has changed the life-style of Japanese people and laid the foundation for the new society development.

The company was set up in 1991 and became a decisive factor in the development of Japanese industry. The results achieved by DoCoMo are difficult to overestimate: the biggest number of subscribers and the biggest mobile communications investment in the world, possibility to view 5,000 web-sites via Internet I-mode.

The life of Japanese people today is in many ways attached to the mobile Internet. A mobile Internet subscriber constantly keeps eyes on the mobile phone screen, which notifies the user of any changes taking place on web-sites. Mobile Internet-related services, having reached 230 sites, include banking services, booking of tickets, hotel reservations and various services in entertainment business. DoCoMo managers say that the current situation of the market is only the first indication of the impending changes. According to the experts, within a period of three years every subscriber in Japan will become mobile Internet user (Japanese April 2000 data shows that in a population of 128 million, the mobile service is currently used by 58 million people). A completely new type of customer culture is being created, where people want to be constantly kept well informed about world news, receive the latest business news and what is most important, make decisions on the basis of such information.  We watch Japan become a country populated with a "mobile society". The critical mass of mobile Internet users represents a decisive factor in the establishing of such a society.

One may argue whether the experience of Japan will be of relevance and of use to us, or whether it is still too early to think of such modern technologies in a country like Georgia, where lots of innovations are doomed to fail due to economic difficulties. We would not agree with such an opinion because if so, MagtiCom would not exist at all. According to many experts, the Georgian mobile phone market would exceed the 70,000 subscribers margin no earlier than in 2003-2004.  However, MagtiCom proved during its three-year existence that such a number was quite accessible for a single successful company. We believe that providing the population with new technologies must be more important for Georgia than for other counties who already have a developed transport and communication infrastructure. Economic underdevelopment is certainly an inhibitor for the development of mobile communications, but there is one problem that has already been solved by MagtiCom: communications will seize to be an obstacle for economic progress in Georgia.

Levan Buchukuri
Director of Marketing,Customer Care
and Strategic Planning
MAGTICOM