CDPD gains momentum

AT&T Wireless Services opened the door to a new group of users of its cellular digital packet data network last week when OmniSky launched its nationwide wireless data offering. OmniSky will market the service to customers, who must have a wireless modem for their Palm V hand-held devices. For $39.95 per month, users can access 2200 different sites tailored for the Palm, in addition to virtually all content on the Internet.

OmniSky executives wouldn't estimate how many users it expects from the start, but it has been beta testing with 8000 users and has a list of 13,000 other people who hoped to be part of the beta test. Despite those large initial numbers, AT&T Wireless doesn't expect to have to increase its CDPD network.

"The way packet data works, it's very robust in its ability to handle varying demands," said Kendra VanderMeulen, senior vice president of product strategy and development for AT&T Wireless Services. Though OmniSky users likely will consume more capacity than AT&T Wireless' CDPD users with Wireless Application Protocol-enabled phones, the network should be able to handle the traffic. The operator has looked at typical OmniSky customer use and determined the network can support it, VanderMeulen said.

AT&T Wireless likely will benefit from added users but not from e-commerce transaction revenues. Neither company would elaborate on their business deal. "The terms of the agreement are the same in terms of economics, as with any of our resellers," VanderMeulen said. Typically, resellers buy wholesale minutes and don't share transaction revenues with the operator. OmniSky bills directly.

AT&T Wireless and OmniSky began working together even before OmniSky had a name, a relationship that has been critical for OmniSky. "AT&T has been pivotal to the concept from day one," said Barak Berkowitz, OmniSky's president.

OmniSky believes it has an advantage over other wireless data offerings because of the amount of content that users can access. Using software from Aether Systems, OmniSky has enabled 2200 Internet sites for optimal viewing on the Palm. In addition, the Aether software can reformat information on the fly so users can access virtually any Internet site.

"Our service goes to an HTML page, reformats it as well as it can for a page it doesn't know, and delivers it up to the Palm," Berkowitz said. Enabling customers to reach almost any Web site helps accomplish one of OmniSky's goals. OmniSky wants to create "a definition of the wireless Internet not as a subset of the Internet but as rich as the Internet itself," Berkowitz said.

Users also can receive e-mail from up to six POP3 e-mail accounts. That capability differentiates the offering from an existing wireless service available on the Palm VII, which requires users to get a new Palm.net e-mail address.

Currently, only users of the Palm V with the wireless modem can use the service, but OmniSky plans to make it accessible from other hand-held devices. The criteria for those devices include a screen about the size of the Palm, suitable RAM and a reasonably powerful processor.

OmniSky is exploring expansion beyond the U.S. Last week, the company received a $60 million investment from News Corp. and $15 million from PSINet. The company also formed a joint venture with News Corp. aimed at exploring international opportunities.

AT&T Wireless last week also enhanced its CDPD offering to users of wireless handsets with a link to Excite@Home's newly relaunched mobile portal. Excite@Home is eager to form partnerships with operators to deliver content. "It makes it easier for customers to find us if we partner with AT&T," said Rob Wilen, senior director and group manager of wireless at Excite@Home. Such a partnership means that Excite@Home's mobile URL already is programmed into the phone. Users are more apt to visit preprogrammed sites.