In this chapter, mobile commerce capabilities are presented as the next step for mobile networks. Location-based services (LBS) are one of the most interesting types of service provided over mobile networks. The chapter presents the components of such services, and discusses their most interesting characteristics.

A new perspective on mobile networks is provided, emphasizing the service point of view of mobile networks in two ways. On one side, the chapter helps technical people to understand where their protocols and performance evaluations can be applied. On the other side, the chapter discusses some of the impact scopes of mobile commerce.

The chapter is interesting because it explains how technical improvements add value, by describing use cases (of user applications or services) for mobile commerce that are useful and helpful for users. Such services are described using the interaction capability of LBS as the starting point in the reasoning process. Interaction has been the key for success in other important services, such as Web and message exchange in mobile systems. This chapter includes very interesting ideas for future developments. It not only contains interesting ideas, but is also a starting point for the analysis, design, and development of solutions that implement the ideas presented.