World Telecommunication Day 1999 |
Of the roughly 75 million wireless phone users in the United States, about 40 percent say that want data connections for their phones, according to the Boston-based researchers Yankee Group. ''Look at Europe,'' says Andrew Sukawaty, president of Sprint PCS, a U.S. mobile network operator. ''There's lots of data traffic. It's about 5 percent to 15 percent of total wireless traffic.''
One technology that enables data transfers via the Internet is called wireless application protocol (WAP). WAP-enabled platforms are just beginning to come onstream in large phone markets such as the United States and Europe, and the International Telecommunication Union's ''World Telecommunication Development Report '99 on Mobile Cellular'' states that ''WAP promises to become the global standard for accessing the Internet from any type of mobile device.'' According to a report from Cahners In-Stat Group, a research firm in Newton, Mass., ''The scarcity of these phones [in the United States] is not holding this market back, because people do not and will not rely solely on their phones to receive data wirelessly.''
Consumers can also use notebook computers, personal digital assistants such as those developed by Palm Computing and pagers to receive wireless data messages.
''We are currently seeing the evolution of two-way wireless devices into truly mobile smart computing systems,'' says Surya Jayaweera, president and chief executive officer of WolfeTech, a telecommunications software developer in Claremont, Calif. ''The emerging opportunities and possibilities are truly boundless in this arena.''
Along with such new industry players as WolfeTech, established companies such as AT&T and Microsoft are actively launching services and technologies that let consumers access a wide variety of information on digital wireless phones, pagers and other devices.
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These devices can still only be used in limited markets - mainstream global integration has yet to occur. The Palm VII, for example, was recently rolled out country-wide in the United States after it made its debut with access limited to the New York City area. A European model does not yet exist. The important thing is that companies are positioning themselves to be ready and able when wireless data become ubiquitous. In Asia, NTT DoCoMo is busy preparing to meet the needs of Japan's potentially huge cellular data market by forming strategic alliances.
For example, a recent alliance with 3Com ensures that when Palm VII-type devices hit the streets of Tokyo, NTT DoCoMo will be the service provider. The company has also joined with Symbian, a joint-venture of Psion, Motorola, Ericsson and Nokia, to develop operating systems for wireless devices. Other recent alliances with Microsoft and Sun Microsystems suggest that regardless of how or when wireless data streams into everyone's pockets, NTT DoCoMo, which already has a 57 percent share of the Japanese market, will be dominant.
For consumers who own pagers, a wide variety of information and services is also becoming more readily available. Driving such developments is WolfeTech Corp., which released its latest software for two-way pagers in June. Now, people using Motorola's PageWriter 2000 or Research in Motion's 950 and Blackberry pagers can receive unlimited real-time stock quotes as well as other financial news, such as corporate earning updates and sports news. Users can also order flowers, review restaurant guides and translate text messages.
For businesses, such developments provide new ways of reaching consumers and expanding electronic commerce activities. Virgin Megastore Online and Geoworks Corp., for instance, recently teamed up to offer free compact discs from virginmega.com to subscribers of Discopro.com, a mobile information service that delivers a wide range of discounts and promotions to digital cellphones and alphanumeric pagers.
Janet Purdy Levaux