In the last few years we have seen a rapid growth in provision of mobile services out of the far northern-east parts of Europe - Nokia and Ericsson are now household brand names, and the stories of buying coke cans via mobiles are almost legandary.

However, this looks like it could all be changing with the rapid progression into the European market by the big Asian manufacturers. Samsung, Panasonic, Sony are all stomping into the market full speed ahead with big budgets, strong partnerships and devices already proven in the US and Asian markets.

The question is can the European's do the same the other way?

The recent news that AT&T Canada are using Nokia and Ericsson phones for the mobile internet service (rather than Motorola or Samsung phones) must be beginning to worry the existing manufacturer base in the US.

I think we'll see a fiercly fought battle coming up in the next 12 months.