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Mobile e-commerce (m-commerce) eventually will boom in Europe but, before that happens, the wireless industry must do a better job of providing useful and premium content and services, a report released Friday by the Yankee Group claims.

The report notes current confusion about what m-commerce is.

"Far too often, we have heard the term `m-commerce' used to describe just about any new mobile data application," said Declan Lonergan, director of European wireless research and consulting for Yankee Group. "This has only served to blur the vision of true m-commerce services and their market potential, as well as to confuse all industry players looking to carve out a slice of the m-commerce revenue opportunity."

Instead, m-commerce should be divided into three types, he said: premium content, remote payment and point-of-sale applications. Of those, premium content will be the most important, generating more than three-fourths of all m-commerce revenues by 2006, the study predicts.

Driven by premium content applications, we believe m-commerce does have a bright future in Europe," Lonergan said. "But (that will happen) only if the region's mobile operators realize soon the essential role that third-party applications and content companies will play in shaping the industry's future."

The findings are part of the report: "Mobile Commerce in Europe: Premium Content Remains the Priority."