Agency.com Launches Worldwide Wireless Practice

Interactive agency Agency.com on Thursday kicked off its new wireless practice, which will occupy 40 employees in the company’s London, Singapore, Amsterdam, New York, and San Francisco offices.

The aim is to serve clients looking for cutting-edge wireless applications, especially in Europe and in other international markets, where wireless technology is more widespread than in the United States.

The practice will be headquartered in the London office, and headed up by David Eastman, Director of Agency.com’s Mobile Business and Consulting Global Practice Area.

“Demand for wireless solutions has accelerated rapidly, to the degree that many of our clients in Europe and Asia are looking for mobile solutions before web-based channels,” says Eastman.

“We see the trend accelerating as penetration continues to grow in Europe and Asia, where mobile devices are quickly outstripping fixed-access devices like PCs. Increasingly, this is how we are reaching our client’s customers.”

The development of a practice group puts a formal name and organization to work that the company has already been pursuing in Asia and in Europe. Agency.com has built a WAP portal for KPN Telecom, the market leader in mobile phones in Holland. The application lets users access traffic information, weather data, stock quotes, a diary and planner and conduct e-commerce transactions.

Web development firms, like Agency.com and its cross-town rival, Razorfish, have been building up capabilities in wireless, and in broadband. The efforts are aimed at maintaining leadership in a rapidly changing and developing global market, where different content delivery and marketing platforms are coming to the fore.