Here comes the wireless Web
There was plenty of chest pounding at the Wireless Data Forum where heady forecasts were the rule, not the
exception. Is it more than hype?
By Richard Shim, ZDNet News
AUSTIN, Texas, 23 May 2000 -- The market for wireless applications-enabled products, still in its infancy, is about to undergo a boom.
This, according to executives gathered here to take the pulse of a nascent industry which is attracting keen
attention from moguls and venture capitalists, carriers and consumers alike. Although so-called WAP products are
already currently available, the range of offerings pales in comparison to what will be on tap in the next couple
of months, officials here said.
A lot of attention was paid to the future direction the industry's 800-pound gorilla, Microsoft Corp., may take.
And MS senior vice president Paul Gross did not hesitate to outline the software giant's ambitions, albeit without
offering up much in the way of details. Gross indicated that Microsoft wants to allow users access regardless of
time and place, and on any device. He said Microsoft plans to leverage its content and product platforms -- as
well as existing carrier and technology partnerships -- to make good on that objective.
Telephony on steroids?
WAP-enabled phones, still relatively scarce items, are expected to be widely available during the second half of
this year. Indeed, Motorola (NYSE: MOT) plans to make sure all its phones will be WAP-enabled by the end of the
year.
WAP can be used on CDMA, TDMA or GSM -- which means it can also be used globally. Applications, which need only
be developed once, can then be used on any type of device.
By 2004, the Yankee Group projects about 5 million WAP-enabled handsets in the market. But WAP will still need
to hurdle the Web's relatively high bandwidth requirements. It takes anywhere from 2.5G to 3G for a device to offer
enough capacity to browse the Net, transfer large files and download streaming video files.
Various carriers plan high bandwidth technologies. AT&T announced that it would forego 2.5G devices and prepare
for 3G EDGE technology. All the carriers painted a picture of a day when data would be the primary wireless signal
and voice would be secondary.