Wireless firms gear up for mobile Internet

By Yukari Iwatani, Reuters, 02/26/02

CHICAGO ? If you thought cell phones were only for chatting, think again.

U.S. wireless operators are racing to upgrade their networks to allow customers to surf the Internet wirelessly from cell phones, PDAs or laptop computers at speeds similar to connections at home.

The new technology will also let users stay permanently connected to the Internet instead of dialing up each time as with current wireless data services that tend to be slow and clunky.

Consumers can initially look forward to options such as e-mail and simple interactive games, and may ultimately perform cell phone feats like viewing the person on the other end of the line and video messaging.

By the end of the year, leading wireless operators like Verizon Wireless, AT&T Wireless and Sprint PCS , will have rolled out new data services nationwide.

"Initially it's not really going to be that much different," said Adam Guy, wireless analyst with the Strategis Group. "It'll be a little bit faster. It'll be a little bit better priced," he said, adding that the biggest difference will be the always-on feature.

Americans need only look internationally to see the realm of possibility.

In Europe, where access to higher-speed data-capable networks became available last year, the hottest thing is SMS, or short message service, which lets users send messages instantaneously. On the horizon are color screens for video messaging.

South Korean wireless users swap pictures, send messages and view the person they are talking with on flashy, color-screen mobile phones. Korea was the first country to offer the fastest wireless data connection last summer.

Japanese consumers were provided data-capable networks for their cell phones three years ago and regularly use the Internet to send e-mail, pull up color maps with directions and download ring tones with 16-part harmonies.

Japan's mobile Internet enables customers to perform wireless banking functions, such as transferring their rent payment with the push of a cell phone button.

"I could do that no matter where I was in Japan," said Cyrus Shaoul, the former chief technology officer of Japanese Internet firm Digital Garage.

Shaoul, who moved back to the United States last year, said he wished he still had such services and was skeptical about the ability of U.S. wireless operators to provide them.

But wireless operators here are determined to try.

The United States may be lagging on this technology front, but the race to provide broadband data and voice capabilities is cutthroat -- so much so that many companies were reluctant to disclose their plans.

The intense competition is due in part to a war of two technologies.

GPRS (Global Packet Radio Service), is based on the dominant global standard. Cingular and AT&T Wireless, the nation's No. 2 and No. 3 wireless firms, are building out new networks with it.

CDMA2000 1X (Code Division Multiple Access), is a technology developed by Qualcomm. Verizon Wireless and Sprint PCS, the No. 1 and No. 4 wireless firms, are taking this route.

GPRS proponents tout the benefits of a global standard, while "1X" proponents say their technology is faster and allows customers to do more on the Internet.

Sprint PCS plans to roll out its service nationwide this summer, while AT&T and Verizon, which offer their new services in some cities, plan to finish their roll-outs nationwide by the end of the year. Cingular will be finished in 2004 because it is simultaneously upgrading its networks with an even faster technology.

Unlike in Japan, U.S. wireless operators are targeting mainly businesses instead of the consumer marketplace, betting on the appeal of office applications such as e-mail and unified messaging, which consolidates voicemail, e-mail and faxes.

Some wireless operators already offer e-mail service, but believe upgraded networks will improve access to both personal Internet-based e-mail as well as office e-mail.

For regular consumers, wireless firms promise to continue to fine-tune its networks to allow fancier features like picture and music downloads, and eventually video.

Sprint PCS said its customers will be able to play short video clips -- such as the winning play from a missed sporting event -- by the end of the year. AT&T Wireless said its customers will be able to send pictures to each other. Of course, games will become faster-paced, more complex and more interactive.

However, there is one catch that all of the operators agree on. Much of the services will depend on how fast developers can create mobile Internet applications and how fast wireless device makers can make innovative products like a combination cell phone-camera device or a cell phone-PDA device.

When the operators, developers, and manufacturers all come through, your wireless service will never be the same.