April 1999

BY MARC ROBINS

Much has been written about the magical last mile of convergence - and filling the services gap between "the Network" and the end user at home with an array of multimedia-infused enhanced services. We've read about how cable operators in the wired domain appear to be well positioned to deliver a multitude of enhanced services right into the laps of subscribers, since their fat network "pipes" extend all the way into our living rooms. To a lesser extent, we've heard the same about the telcos and CLECs starting to offer xDSL. The enterprise also has a number of options. But what about the increasingly mobile professional (which seems to cover just about everyone these days) who more than ever needs to have constant access to e-mail, fax, and voice messages, corporate data resources, and the Internet?

WIRELESS TO THE RESCUE
Of all the technologies competing for our mind share (and our IT budgets), wireless presents one of the most tantalizing opportunities for bridging the "Last Foot." By providing network connectivity and delivering myriad innovative voice and data enhanced services - to a portable device that we can carry comfortably on our person wherever we are - wireless, in its current state of development, presages a much more connected future. I suspect that the spectacular growth in subscribers for cellular and PCS services (claims are made that 50,000 new subscribers get connected every day) is only partly due to the big drop in prices. I believe it also has something to do with the idea of persistent connectivity - the promise that the network can be always in reach wherever you are.

Most people on the go today no longer just consider it convenient to have a cell phone. They consider it an essential business tool and a vital lifestyle enabler. In short, there has been a sea change in attitude regarding being available ALL THE TIME. Rather than spooking people with a "Big-Brother-run-amok" scenario, it's actually becoming highly desirable. And, if the capability comes cheaply, so much the better.

I attended the recent Wireless '99 show in New Orleans, and was floored by the progress the wireless industry has made. Data was all the rage, as vendor after vendor showed off new, compact, data-ready handsets, new services, and new infrastructure. For a cell phone addict like me, it was just like being at a toy show!

ENHANCED SERVICES GET RESPECT
Also apparent was a new respect afforded to enhanced services. While being viewed barely six months ago as mainline voice service "bells and whistles," voice/data enhanced services are now seen as vital new future profit generators and churn reducers. The number and variety of innovative services being offered was simply amazing.

Virtual assistants/unified-messaging services like those offered by Wildfire (www.wildfire.com), General Magic's Portico (www.generalmagic.com) and InTouch (www.intouchsys.com) are being marketed aggressively to wireless carriers.

Locator services like those offered by companies such as SignalSoft (www.signalsoftcorp.com) leverage Global Positioning Satellite (GPS) services to pinpoint the location of cell users and then deliver location-specific information to questions such as, "Where is the closest Thai restaurant?"

Speech recognition was also hot for applications such as "Dial-By-Name." Samsung (www.samsung.com) announced a new slew of handsets with integrated (read: INTEGRATED!) speech rec capabilities. IntelliVoice (www.intellivoice.com) was aggressively marketing its network-based speech recognition technology to carriers and infrastructure vendors.

Saraide.com (www.saraide.com) made its debut as a value-added service provider to the mobile carrier market. A joint venture between Microcell Telecommunications, Nortel Networks, Omnipoint Communications, and GSM Capital, Saraide was formed to offer carriers the ability to quickly extend service offerings to subscribers by acting as a carrier's service bureau. Saraide plans to offer next generation messaging, electronic commerce, and information services.

SUPPORT FOR WAP
Then there is WAP. WAP, which is short for Wireless Application Protocol, is a specification for supporting wireless information and telephony services on digital mobile phones and other wireless terminals. Its design allows users to efficiently retrieve e-mail, and push and pull information from the Internet, including Web pages, newsgroups, and chat. WAP has the support of handset, software, and infrastructure (i.e., wireless gateway) manufacturers representing over 75 percent of the world's market, across all technologies, including:

Alcatel (www.alcatel.com)
Comverse (www.comversens.com)
Ericsson (www.ericsson.com)
IBM (www.ibm.com)
Lucent (www.lucent.com)
Motorola (www.mot.com)
NEC (www.nec.com)
Nokia (www.nokia.com)
Nortel (www.nortel.com)
Qualcomm (www.qualcomm.com)
Samsung (www.samsung.com)
Siemens (www.siemens.com)
Sony (www.sony.com) and
Unwired Planet (www.unwiredplanet.com).

Think of WAP as a method for standardizing the way wireless devices can be used to connect to the Internet, regardless of the underlying transmission method. WAP doesn't specify how data should be transmitted over the air interface. Instead, the WAP protocol is intended to sit on top of the bearer channel standards (GSM: Global System for Mobile Communication; CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access; TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access; etc.) so that any bearer standard can be used with the WAP protocols to implement complete solutions. In practical terms, this means that any WAP-enabled wireless device can interoperate with any other WAP device and WAP-enabled network, regardless of the manufacturer, network standard, operator, or technology being employed. Visit the WAP Forum's Web site at www.wapforum.org for more info on other supporters and the full skinny on the spec.

WIRELESS IP PERCOLATION
Another major trend, backed up by some very serious announcements and a recent flurry of activity, is the increasing focus on Internet protocol (IP) as the foundation for next-generation wireless networks. Projections from research companies such as the Strategis Group have the wireless Internet subscriber base growing from 236,000 this year to more than 4 million by 2004 - and the big guns in wireless and IP want to own large pieces of this pie.

Cisco (www.cisco.com) for one is on a tear. The company has announced strategic alliances with a number of wireless technology providers, including Motorola (www.motorola.com) and Omnitel (www.omnitel.com), to develop an IP-based communications infrastructure that can be accessed by wireless devices. Cisco and Motorola have planted a stake in the ground, announcing phase one of a plan to develop and deliver a framework for Internet-based, wireless networks. The goal is to deliver the first all-IP platform for the wireless industry that unites different standards for wireless services worldwide (I hear echoes of WAP), and introduce an open Internet-based platform for integrated data, voice, and video services over cellular networks.

Cisco and Motorola plan to jointly invest as much as $1 billion over four to five years to deliver a wireless Internet. Cisco and Motorola see sales forces using portable devices to securely access updated customer information from company networks; commuters using cell phones to safely send and receive audio e-mail; and publishers and broadcasters delivering data, audio, and video to subscribers on-demand.

N, AS IN NOKIA, NEXTEL
With its purchase of IP telephony technology vendor Vienna Systems, and most recently wireless LAN company InTalk (www.intalk.com), Nokia is also cobbling the pieces together to execute its own wireless IP strategy. In comparison to Motorola's long-term plan, Nokia see opportunity today using Internet telephony to act as an alternative to expensive leased lines between cellular/PCS base stations and access points as well as offering long-distance bypass opportunities to wireless network operators. Later-phase development would bring IP all the way to the digital wireless handset through the use of Vienna's ECM (Embedded Client Module ASIC).

Nextel Communications (www.nextel.com) too is no slouch in the wireless IP department. The company recently announced that it is teaming with Motorola, Netscape, and Unwired Planet to create the Nextel Online family of wireless Internet services. The Nextel Online Internet-based applications will initially be wirelessly enabled through the existing short messaging service features of Nextel digital phones and will later be complemented with wireless modem dial-up capabilities and mobile Internet Protocol (IP)-based services.

Nextel is teaming with Netscape to deliver a wireless Internet portal to extend the Internet to Nextel mobile customers nationwide. Nextel Online will be built with a combination of Netscape Custom Netcenter and Netscape's e-commerce infrastructure and application software. Through a standard PC browser, customers can access Nextel Online's personalized services including stock quotes, weather, and business headlines and Nextel Internet-based services. Behind the scenes, Netscape e-commerce applications provide the foundation for Nextel's new Internet-based services, including an on-line store, billing and order fulfillment, Nextel Business Network member directory, two-way radio communications, and security. Nextel will also employ Unwired Planet's microbrowser software and the UP.Link Platform to bring real-time, two-way interactive messaging functionality and Internet content access to Nextel's phones.

With so much "openness" in Nextel's technical strategy, it made sense to open the doors wide to developers by creating The Nextel Developer Program. Wireless application developers who join the Nextel Developer Program, will have access to a Developer CD-ROM and Web site; ongoing training; access to important, changing technical data; customer requirements and configuration needs; product development troubleshooting; testing support; and sales and marketing programs to market developer products. Unwired Planet will also offer up their wireless browser and platform. Developers interested in learning more about the Nextel Developer Program should log on to http://developer.nextel.com or contact Mary Evren, Manager, Business Development at [email protected].

ONE LAST NOTE
There's so much happening in wireless IP that I simply don't have the room in this column. For more information about happenings in this application space, check out TMCnet Editor Dara Bloom's excellent column Wireless Internet Telephony Is In The Air online.

Marc Robins is Associate Group Publisher for INTERNET TELEPHONY AND CTI magazines. His column, Mind Share, appears monthly in the pages of INTERNET TELEPHONY magazine. Marc readily looks forward to your feedback at mrobins@tmcnet.com.

Profuse thanks to Qualcomm for making my dream come true. I had been wishing for a device that married my beloved Palm Pilot to my "constantly-in-need-of-battery-recharging" PCS phone. Lo and behold, there it was in Qualcomm's booth! The company's new pdQ Smartphone melds a Palm III with a CDMA hybrid digital/analog phone. The pdQ Smartphone lets you run all the familiar Palm apps, as well as letting you literally "tap" into some lovely enhanced features. You can dial out directly from an address book for example, as well as enjoy the benefits of wireless access to e-mail and the Web. This thing is definitely in my hot list.