Irish Independent March 10th 2005

Irish firm wants phone users to make the most of their mobiles

INTERVIEW OF THE WEEK: CARL KIERNAN, FOUNDER AND CHIEF EXECUTIVE, WIREFILE

Wirefile is hoping that its health management programmes, which can be personalised and sent directly to each customer's handset, will be the Next Big Thing in mobile phone content.

In the mobile phone sector, operators are increasingly looking at content provision as the next big revenue stream, as average revenue per user (ARPU) figures reach saturation point.

According to research from Analysis, mobile content and entertainment will account for 17pc of all mobile service revenue by 2007.

But it's not just the mobile phone operators looking for different revenue streams - already, content providers have tapped into the lucrative teenage market with numerous firms offering ring tones, wallpaper, etc.

Names like iTouch and Monstermob have made lucrative businesses for themselves through the sale of such products, although most firms, so far, have shied away from an older market.

Irish company Wirefile, headed up by Carl Kiernan, a former financial software engineer with a health and safety background, provides mobile solutions for health management using Java applications, and is now targeting the post-teenage market.

Already the firm's software is being used by Unislim so members can Monitor their weight loss progress via their mobiles. The Unislim Go product is already available on its website.

"Teenagers are downloading Java applications all the time, adults are not because there is nothing out there they want," he said. According to Kiernan, with all new phones 100pc Java-enabled, the potential is obvious. "Online slimming and health management is already available but mobile is a much stronger sell," he said. "We're not a slimming company, but we have the tools to help people. People carry their phones with them every day." As the industry is still at infancy stage, market research is relatively thin on the ground. But health management through products like PDAs is a viable industry in the US. "There is very little information on non-game applications.

Having said that, the hand-held business is really taking off in the US and that is something we are watching closely," he said.

One of the biggest potentials for growth in the market is the deployment of high-speed 3G phones with Java software which enables wireless carriers to differentiate their services by offering individual customers personalised applications.

In addition, a report from the ARC Group estimates that the Java market earned operators almost $1.4bn in revenue in 2003, while this figure is forecast to increase to over $15.5bn by 2008.

But the market is not just limited to mobile phone operators and content providers. "This is a system that can be configured to do things to help people control what they consume," he said. "We are also targeting companies that have a brand in the area of nutrition and fitness and are interested in using their brand to create mobile products."

According to Kiernan, at a time when food content is becoming increasingly important for food companies, especially products for children, it is also an opportunity to get the information out there.

"The issue of salt and fat content in foods, for example, is huge in Britain at the moment and people want that information now." A family-backed business, Wirefile is fully-funded to date. But Kiernan is not ruling out the venture capital route at a later stage. "If, for example, we were to pick one particular brand and market it directly to consumers, we would consider this option."

For the moment, though, the company is focusing on its health management product. "There is no great killer application out there for consumers and I hope this is it," he said.