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To: engineer who wrote (33606)	6/29/1999 3:32:00 PM
From: Ruffian	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 152472

IBM> Advertise on Total Telecom IBM Provides Mobile Share Trading for Fraser in Singapore By Dharmo Soejanto at Bloomberg News 29 June 1999 International Business Machines Corp. unveiled a system to trade stocks in Singapore over mobile phones as the world's No.1 computer maker expands into other technologies. IBM designed the system for Fraser Securities Pte., Singapore's oldest brokerage, with help from Ericsson AB, Singapore Telecommunications Ltd.'s SingTel Mobile division and MacroVision, a unit of the Stock Exchange of Singapore. The system will allow investors to buy and sell stocks, keep track of stock prices, see account balances and cancel or change orders through their mobile phones. "This is really the first of such implementations in the world," said Ang Miah Boon, managing director for IBM in Singapore. "From the implementation, we clearly see the impact of what we call pervasive computing - the use of technologies in every day devices such as a (cellular) phone to communicate seamlessly with Internet." IBM's agreement with Fraser follows its collaboration with Nokia Oyj and Sabre Group Holdings Inc. in March to provide travel-reservation services through mobile phones. IBM is fostering the use of such hand-held devices so they can be hooked to networks run by IBM software and server computers. IBM hopes to expand trading on mobile phones to other countries. "Once this idea catches on, there's no telling where its going to lead us," Ang said. For Fraser, trading through the cellular phone and Internet is a way to reduce the burden on its brokers. "Online trading is like outsourcing our order taking and order execution," said Ng Quek Peng, Fraser's managing director. Volume on the Stock Exchange of Singapore has more than doubled to an average of 727 million shares a day, compared with 296 million shares a day last year. The surge in trading has resulted in Fraser's clients facing difficulties placing orders with their brokers. "With mobile trading, you can trade anywhere, anytime, without relying on a harried broker at the other end of the line," Ng said. "What can be more convenient than having a broker in your pocket?" Going self-service also lowers the cost for brokerages. Fraser is expected to recover its capital investments in its Internet and cellular phone brokerage services in about two years, Ng said. This suggests a return on investment of about 50 percent. "There is a fixed cost," Ng said. "Once you cover the fixed cost, the rest is gravy." Copyright 1999, Bloomberg L.P. All Rights Reserved.