Asian Internet users are more concerned than their Western counterparts about on-line security, and this fear has slowed the acceptance of electronic commerce in some parts of Asia. One way around on-line security concerns would be to permit consumers to pay for purchases through their mobile-telephone bills, a method that is viewed as more secure than releasing credit card numbers over the World Wide Web and could therefore stimulate rapid growth in on-line transactions. To find out more about the potential for wireless data business in Asia, McKinsey recently undertook detailed interviews with 100 mobile-phone users in Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, and Thailand. This research suggests that most Asian consumers likely to use wireless data services would prefer to pay for purchased goods either through their mobile-phone bills or by cash on delivery.

Wireless data services are catching on in Asia. Japan's leading mobile operator, NTT DoCoMo, paved the way with its highly successful i-Mode service, which by February 2000—only a year after its launch—had attracted more than 4.25 million subscribers. Over the same period, and partly as a result of i-Mode's success, DoCoMo's market capitalization rose to $312 billion, from $76 billion, encouraging operators throughout Asia to launch wireless...