BY DARA BLOOM MIRSKY
Editor, TMCnet.com™

Do WAP, Do WAP (And Do It Now)

A report from Forrester Research crossed my desk last week that predicted a full third of the entire European population will access the Internet through mobile phones in 2004. While this seems like a staggering percentage, WAP -- or Wireless Application Protocol -- could make this prediction a reality.

The What And Why Of WAP
According to the WAP Forum (originally formed by Nokia, Ericsson, Unwired Planet (now Phone.com), and Motorola), the protocol is "an open, global specification that empowers mobile users with wireless devices to easily access and interact with information and services instantly."

Simply, WAP connects content and applications residing on a network (such as the public Internet, or a private corporate intranet) with a networked appliance (such as a personal digital assistant (PDA) or WAP-enabled wireless phone). WAP is a communications protocol and application environment. Applications can be built for any operating system including PalmOS, EPOC, Windows CE, FLEXOS, OS/9, and JavaOS:  WAP is platform-neutral.

Currently, the predominant method of exchanging wireless data is SMS, or Short Message Service. SMS is a simple way to send and receive short text messages (up to 160 characters): Current text-messaging pagers are a good example of SMS. WAP is dramatically more robust, and can act as more of a microbrowser accessing online content than just a sender and receiver of simple text messages.

WAP-Wrap Your Company
There's a lot of talk about WAP from a personal application standpoint. WAP lets you check on traffic reports from your Palm, and get sports scores on your pager. These WAP applications should put service providers on alert: Here's your next opportunity to provide a new set of enhanced services to subscribers.

While those WAP services are great and growing, don't forget the business efficiencies of bringing WAP into the corporate enterprise. A corporate WAP server can enable mobile access to a company's e-mail system, databases, contact management software, and more. A number of companies can help WAP-wrap your enterprise for you.

Take the WAPLite server from Infinite Technologies, for example. WAPLite connects WAP-compatible phones to Internet- and intranet-based applications and content. Infinite aptly explains that their corporate WAP server essentially extends your corporate desktop to employees' mobile phones: They can get files and data from any Web server. Infinite's server supports Nokia 7110, Ericsson Mc218, and Motorola Timeport phones -- they'll be supporting additional devices shortly. It also supports the Nokia WAP Toolkit v1.2. Infinite offers a 30-day evaluation copy of the server software on their Web site.

Nokia, in fact, is shipping its own WAP server, the WAP Server 1.0. While Infinite pitches specifically to the corporate enterprise, Nokia promotes its server as appropriate for both the corporate enterprise and potential WAP service providers. Developers can test drive the Nokia server before they buy. Need more information on how WAP can work for you? An excellent technical whitepaper on WAP from a corporate perspective can be downloaded from Nokia as an Adobe Acrobat file.

WAP Now, Or Forever Hold Your Peace
The pool of WAP users in the U.S. will likely grow at a slower rate than that in Europe simply due to the lower penetration of wireless phones and appliances. Still, it's not too soon to think about deploying a WAP server either for in-house use, or to provide additional enhanced services to your customers.

Cahners In-Stat Group recently reported that about 50 million people nationwide are mobile, spending twenty percent or more of their time away from their desks. Their analysts predict that sluggish U.S. demand for wireless data services is about to change: "If equipment and service providers offer a compelling product with acceptable transmission speeds at a reasonable price, they stand to reap serious rewards with wireless Internet solutions," said Becky Diercks, director of wireless research. Diercks also noted that 49 percent of business professionals responded that they'd make use of wireless Internet several times a day if the price, and service, were right. Get into WAP now while the getting's good.

Dara Bloom Mirsky welcomes your comments at dbloom@tmcnet.com.