In a word demand! In the first half of 2007 5.7m UK consumers accessed the internet each month via a mobile handset. If these UK consumers had a choice between visiting a site that hasn’t been optimised for mobile access or a site that has, you can guess where they will go! Making content available for mobile access does not require a complete re-design of your web site. Simply providing a specific subset of your web site data could provide a real benefit to both your business and web site visitors. For example, if you were a travel company, publishing departure times or changes to schedules in a mobile ready format would enable people en-route to check for updates whilst travelling. Alerts could be sent via SMS with a link to the changes. However, if these visitors reach your site and have to download a page of information designed for a computer with broadband, the experience will not reflect well on your company. Convenience is often borne of necessity, and if a customer cannot get what they want from your business they will look elsewhere. In cost terms, providing information in a format that meets your customer’s needs would probably save you money. If a customer knows they can access key information on-line, this will potentially save your business the cost of staffing telephones and helpdesks to provide the same information. 'Mobile Internet - Why provide content for mobiles?' is one in a series of short articles focused on accessing the internet via a mobile phone. Published in the Isle of Man Examiner 1st April 2008.