According to a recent report by Wireless World Forum (WWF), mobile hyperlinks using 2D barcodes, RFID and image recognition have revolutionized how consumers access mobile content in advanced mobile markets such as Japan and South Korea.

“Although it took four years for mobile hyperlinks to become truly mainstream in the Far East, we can examine how companies have been experimenting with mobile hyperlinks in advanced markets and shorten the learning curve,” says Jan Kuczynski, Research Manager at WWF and lead author of the report.

Kuczynski adds that mobile hyperlinks increase traffic for content providers, help marketers find out more about their audience, and provide a great consumer experience.

The report says that by 2009, 70 percent of consumers in the US and Europe will regularly use 2D barcodes on their mobiles. However, the Indian market will take time to adopt it.

“In Q3 2009 we expect mass market coverage in tier-1 Indian cities. The mobile hyperlinks market would be between $ 45 - $ 75 million and much of this revenue will occur outside the operator network,” says Graham Brown, CEO, WWF.

Mobile hyperlinks are not an intrinsic part of any particular telecom network model, but a feature that will be equally usable in both current and future 3G networks in India.

About the user benefits, Brown says that hyperlinks will overcome issues facing usability and form factor (different designs of mobile handsets) associated with modern handsets. “Hyperlinks will also integrate mobile experience with the physical world by allowing consumers to interact with posters, products and other media,” explains Brown.

Also covered in the report are other techniques to boost mobile content access, including RFID and audio links which can be interpreted properly by the handset.