Mick Jagger can't get no satisfaction - but he can get wireless internet access at an impressive 11 megabits per second. And when the driving force behind the world's biggest rock group starts spouting on about the merits of mobile communications, you know that a topic once regarded as of interest only to the 21st century's equivalent of the radio ham has entered the mainstream.

This year's Forty Licks world tour will see Mick and the boys, with their huge entourage, travel the globe with no fewer than 140 laptops, each connected to the other by state-of-the-art wireless systems developed by US firm 3Com. Not only will fans be able to follow the Stones' every move online, the band's tour managers will be connected to their HQ's hard drives, so they can look ahead to the next concert venue.

It sounds like a gimmick but the 3Com blurb explains: 'This allows for rapid re-working of extra performance bookings, changes to seating plans, last-minute promotions, business negotiations with venue operators and ticket pricing decisions.'

It is also one of the more understandable examples of how managers are using mobile communications to improve their businesses. The Stones' tour uses a mobile technology known as Wireless Local Area Networks (see Sarah Ryle's article on page 6) which has become big news in the US and is starting to be appreciated over here.

WLANs can be fitted as an integral component to a PC, but currently most are sold as add-on adapters - or data cards (see page 6) - that allow users to connect their computers to the internet without the need for clumsy wires.

According to new research from IT analysts Gartner Dataquest, worldwide spending on WLAN equipment grew by 38 per cent to $2.3 billion last year. In unit terms, shipments more than doubled to reach 15 million adapters and 4.4 million access points and gateways.

Brian Gammage, analyst with Gartner Dataquest, says: 'For PC vendors, wireless is fast becoming a must-have, not a nice-to-have. WLAN is already a checklist item that vendors have to offer if they're going to win the sale.'

But, as we report later on in this supplement, WLAN adapters are not the only new technology to have attracted the attention of the corporate world. The next generation of mobile phone technology - commonly known as 2.5G - allows workers to send and receive emails on the move, along with a host of other applications. And, now with new mobile phone operator 3 becoming the first to offer even faster 3G services - capable of transmitting chunky parcels of data on the move (see Faisal Islam's feature on page 7) - companies have a huge range of options when it comes to connecting their workforce.

But, despite the increasing popularity of wireless technology, the vast majority of companies remain dubious about what impact it will have on their bottom lines. 'These are relatively early days,' says Jonathan Tee, analyst with IT consultancy Analysys. 'Some companies have got stuff in place but not all.'

As with any inchoate industry, there is no overriding agreement on myriad issues. As we report later on, there are debates surrounding the merits of data cards versus mobile phones, not to mention the way operators are divided over which sorts of devices are best suited for email on the move. As Conal Walsh makes clear in his report on page 9, security is another factor which companies need to consider carefully.

Because there are so many issues at stake, it is hardly surprising that companies are cautious. Tee believes that quite often there is a cultural issue to be resolved before firms commit.

'Often the people who make the decision on whether to invest are the senior people in the company, rather than the IT team,' he says. 'It can take time to find the right person to appreciate the benefits. You'll find a lot of companies will prefer to trial the technology - for between five and 50 people - before rolling it out.'

And even if the senior manager has been convinced, there are further hurdles to be overcome down the line. 'Once you've got a champion in the organisation and it works technically, you have to get them all trained up,' he says. 'For this sort of systems integration you need consulting which can only work on a case by case basis.'

According to Gartner, a wireless initiative is perceived to be successful when measurable benefits are obtained within 18 months. But this can work only if companies are clear what they want out of the technology in the first place. Nigel Deighton, vice president at Gartner, says: 'The crucial point is to understand how wireless and mobile technologies can improve enterprise performances, and to start rethinking business processes and working models.'

But this is not as easy as it sounds. While managers might intuitively feel having a workforce connected wherever and whenever is a good idea, proving the business case can be a difficult process.

'Take email. It's hard to build a "return on investment" case based on people getting more access to email,' says Alastair MacLeod, customer development director with Orange Business Solutions.

This is not to say there isn't a case, simply that companies need to be aware of the right questions to ask when contemplating an investment in mobile technology. Start with the most obvious question of all. 'Why would any business want to have mobile connectivity of any sort?' Tee points out. 'There is only going to be a demand for it if the business needs to be in contact with employees who are on the move. A lot of companies don't even issue their staff with mobile phones.'

Even those services which many employees might consider as crucial while in their offices may not be vital for staff on the move. A new report from IT consultancy The Yankee Group casts doubt on whether mobile email is a necessity for small and medium sized businesses at all.

'This is largely because mobile email provides little quantifiable benefit in a local context, except during extended commutes; it is truly valued only when travelling abroad. It also remains relatively expensive,' concluded the report, which predicts that less than 5 per cent of western Europe's full-time workforce will be using standalone mobile email by 2007.

The more credible solution providers and operators will attempt to quantify what a company will get back on its investment. There are some case studies which suggest this return on investment can be as much as 40 per cent - an extremely high figure. A more likely ROI is between 10 and 20 per cent - still impressive and enough to justify the initial investment.

But in these straitened times, only those mobile phone operators that can drive home this message will have the ears - and the budgets - of business.