Net Results: After years of hype followed by delay, third-generation (3G) mobile technology will finally be available to Irish consumers next year. Vodafone, O2 and Hutchison are all testing their networks and, when enough 3G handsets become available, a mobile world of multimedia and video will shortly be offered to consumers

Third-generation means higher bandwidth available to beam better quality and higher resolution photos and video to handsets. And, despite teething problems in Japan and Britain, the technology will, over the next few years, offer consumers broadband internet in their pockets.

This is good news for the so-called "early adopters" of technology. Businessmen will be able to use instant messenger services to seamlessly keep in touch with their offices. Music fans will be able to download the latest single onto their handsets and soccer fans will be able to view their team scoring that crucial goal.

But 3G will also open the doors to pornographic content - still a key driver of e-commerce on the fixed internet and already preparing to go mobile.

Hutchison, Britain's first 3G operator has signed an exclusive deal with Playboy for wireless access to its soft porn library of 13,000 pictures and 2,000 hours of video. Pornography has proved a hit with mobile users in Japan.

Clearly, the 3G environment offers pornographers a massive potential customer base but it could also pose a challenge to regulators and parents, many of whom are concerned kids will be exposed to obscene material.

There has been considerable debate in the Republic about the dangers of children using the Net but there has been little focus on mobile phones, which are used by most teenagers.

Yet the mobile poses a particular problem for parents because it offers children greater privacy when connecting to the internet. It is also cheap and an extremely popular fashion item among children, who use it to communicate with their friends by messaging.

Mobile access to pornography is likely to alarm parents, many of whom probably aren't that technology literate and thought access to pornography was only an issue for the Web. But what most parents probably aren't aware of is that kids with a camera phone using 2.5G networks can already click onto a range of pornographic websites using a normal WAP browser.

Mobile firms admit their is little being done in Ireland to prevent kids connecting to pornography using their phones. But Vodafone and O2 in Britain are understood to be looking at the possibility of introducing mobile filters that block pornography.

Hutchison, which will set up a 3G service in the Republic next year, has got around the problem in Britain by not offering its user's access to the internet. Instead, the firm only offers its users access to its own portal of 3G services where all adult material is guarded by a pin number based on age verification of over 18.

But a key driver of 3G is likely to be high-speed Web access and it is unlikely Hutchison will block its customers from the Web forever.

But pornography could be the least of parents concerns when 3G eventually takes off. A range of interactive video mobile messaging services, including chatroom and dating services, are likely to prove popular with young people - thousands of young people use similar services on the fixed internet.

If this technology is combined with location-based services already offered by mobile firms, there could be safety implications for children. These services can pinpoint mobile users to within a few metres and could enable paedophiles to target children that they have groomed using these messaging services.

So, with Irish mobile firms taking a low-key approach to the potential issues associated with 3G, who will regulate the new content and services?

No one seems particularly clear on the issue of content regulation. Regtel, which regulates premium rate mobile numbers, may be powerless to intervene on the wider issue of firms enabling 3G connections to the internet.

In Britain, mobile operators are drawing up a code of practice that will establish a self-regulatory regime. But some of the issues raised by the introduction of 3G services could also fall under the ambit of UK "super regulator" Ofcom.

The convergence of the telecoms, media and content industries persuaded the British government to merge five regulators: the Broadcasting Standards Commission, the Independent Television Commission, Oftel, the Radio Authority and the Radiocommunications Agency. The body will assume its powers at the end of this year.

Perhaps, this model should be looked at in Ireland. Meanwhile, parents should educate their children on appropriate use of mobile phones and the internet. Mobile firms should also do more to educate parents about their products. Parents can get advice at www.hotline.ie.