A strategic alliance between communication supplier Ericsson and Hong Kong e-commerce enabler Netalone.com Ltd. could bring gambling and more to the Chinese mobile commerce market. Netalone will provide technical expertise in e-commerce applications, cross-platform solutions and systems integration to develop an m-commerce platform to the deal. Ericsson, meanwhile, will provide a secured payment solution (e-pay) along with technical and resources support to netalone's e-commerce applications and make them mobile.
Users will be able to access banking, ticketing, gambling, trading and shopping content. "The offer will depend on the area," David Almstron, vice-president of business strategy, Ericsson (China) told Yahoo! "For example, we know gambling is sure to be popular in Hong Kong, but users in China may have different preferences."
He added, "We believe that taking advantage of the unique strength of netalone in providing e-commerce services and Ericsson in mobile Internet, we will provide specific solutions to satisfy the market demand for secure and convenient m-commerce in the region."
Ericsson officials expect China to reach 200 million mobile users by 2003, Yahoo! reported.