Fujitsu signs ISP for data software

Fujitsu Software Corp. has signed up its first Internet service provider, TCPnet, to provide its ByeDesk Link wireless data services.

"We are working with Fujitsu because it fits our niche," said Deborah Butts, senior technology consultant for TCPnet, a division of TechniCom Professionals. "We're a specialty business resource rather than a generic ISP."

ByeDesk Link offers wireless e-mail and Internet access from a GSM phone. TCPnet mostly will serve small and medium-sized business customers who would use GSM phones for various data services (see figure).

The software is different from other GSM data solutions such as Unwired Planet's because it runs on a Sun Solaris or Windows NT server and uses GSM's built-in short messaging service (SMS) capabilities.

"It doesn't require software on the client side," said Timo Salomaki, director of wireless product marketing for Fujitsu.

Because it uses SMS, the service could work on any GSM phone. For now, though, TCPnet is working with Pacific Bell to offer Nokia 9000 users Internet access and other data services, Butts said. When Pacific Bell subscribers request the service, TCPnet will configure their Nokia 9000 phones, which entails setting up an Internet access point over the phone.

While wireless data offerings are proliferating, the most value is in linking phones to other devices or uses, such as contact information stored on a personal digital assistant, said David Cooperstein, Forrester Research analyst.

ByeDesk Link is such a service because users can synchronize calendars within a group and access corporate data via the Internet or extranet.

"I'm a firm believer in divergence of devices, not convergence," Cooperstein said. "A lot of products that try to be a little of both confuse the market about what their value add is."

A figure in the April 6 issue of Telephony (page 39) incorrectly represented the projected number of POTS lines in the U.S. The figure should have indicated that POTS lines numbered about 140 million in 1996 and that the number continues to increase. Telephony regrets the error.