I.T. Vibe - Telegraph Joins Mobile Era But Will It Work?

News that the Telegraph newspaper has just launched a free online version for 3G and WAP enabled mobile phone users has received a muted response from readers of the newspaper. The Telegraph seems very much to be following the crowd with the Sun and News of the World beating them to the punch although the Mirror and Daily Record are set to join up later this year. But is it really happening for the newspapers which have moved online?

The response so far has been very muted and the fact that the likes of the Telegraph have not been shouting from the roof tops says it all. The leading media groups feel that they are obliged to offer a mobile service even though as yet there is no chance of them earning any income. Apparently the hope is that the mobile sites will grow beyond just news portals and take on a life of their own – with income to follow.

However, with no sign of the mobile phone companies reducing their internet access charges in the short term there seems little likihood of mobile newspaper sites making serious money in the short to medium term. Whether putting a ‘newspaper' online for mobile users is worth the bother at the moment is very much in the balance.

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