ISP Aims for Mobile Users

Excite Mobile users can now
download more than 9,300 software applications thanks to an agreement
announced Wednesday between Excite@Home
and Handango.

Handango is a resource library marketed to the Palm OS, Windows CE, Pocket
PC and Symbian line of products. The co-branded site features downloadable
applications for travel, business, education, personal productivity and
entertainment, usable on any of the wireless platforms.

Rob Wilen, Excite@Home senior director and group
manager for wireless, said the software is a great value-add for wireless
users.

“Through this relationship, we are providing Excite Mobile visitors with
direct access to a whole spectrum of software for wireless and handheld
devices,” Wilen said. “Handango’s expertise in the handheld marketplace
and its breadth of handheld solutions provides Excite@Home customers with
instant access to software that can immediately help them take advantage of
the full functionality of their handheld computers.”

The move is a savvy one for Excite Mobile, which is beefing up its content
offerings for the increased demand expected in wireless services.

According to a Cahners In-Stat report,
more than 24 million people will access the Internet through wireless
devices by 2003. A major percentage of these users will be from the
enterprise sector. Many have said they prefer to have one site to access
“pull” information.

Becky Diercks, a director with Cahners, said the wireless market explosion
is attributable to the price campaigns waged by carriers.

“With data, carriers will have to work harder to earn the business because
data is more complex and difficult to sell,” Diercks said. “We expect the
large business/enterprise market will be a key driver of the wireless data
market as they transition from primarily niche-oriented, vertical market
applications to horizontal applications such as Internet access for ‘pull’
content, e-mail, database access and fax.”

The deal marks Handango’s second agreement with a services provider. In
April it signed a similar co-branding deal with Lycos Inc., , which
sees more than 31 million monthly users.

Handango has been busy keeping itself relevant for wireless portals to pick
up.

In June it penned a deal with anti-virus software company McAfee.com
Corp. and will offer an updated anti-virus database
for wireless visitors to download. In exchange, Handango is the exclusive
provider of third-party software for the McAfee.com Wireless Security Center.