The way of the WISP

Wireless ISPs are emerging; what will they look like? Partnership - it's one of the most popular words uttered in the industry today. Gone are the days of the lone service provider. Because no company can put the data and telephony pieces together alone, wireless carriers, network operators and other wireless data players are changing their tunes. Carriers are making headlines in their own right during these early days of wireless data, but they still have to determine how they will transform into full-fledged wireless Internet service providers.

The Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association Wireless I.T. 2000 show last week in Santa Clara, Calif., tripled the number of exhibitors this year - a testament to how much the industry has evolved. Although there will be a shakeout at some point, companies are reveling in the scope and scale of wireless.

"We are elaborating on our core business by forming strategic alliances," said Ed Kelley, vice president of business development with Bell-South Wireless Data, now part of Cingular Wireless.

While the carrier intends to support multiple devices, offer applications that people want and have a network that can do everything, Kelley recognizes that reaching that point will not be easy.

"The challenge of the wireless Internet is whether or not the ISP model is sustainable to be extended to wireless," Kelley said."We don't have all of the answers, but we know we want to offer always-on, always-reachable [service]."

Carriers know what they want in the near future, but they also know they have to take action now to sustain business and pave the way for the next generation.

In the first week of October, the wireless units of SBC Communications and BellSouth stirred things up by forming a joint venture and creating the second-largest carrier behind Verizon Wireless (Tele-phony, Oct. 9, page 8). Blasted for being slow in the data arena, the companies are satisfied by taking it slow.

"We are finding that once we have our network [upgraded], we can then create an environment where applications can be developed," Kelley said. The carrier will target the enterprise space and then take its knowledge to the consumer space, he said.

Rumored merger talks with a wireless entity such as Nextel have not become reality, but AT&T Wireless has been making other wireless data news. Following Europe's lead in two-way messaging, AT&T Wireless became the first U.S. carrier to offer text messaging on cell phones last week. Sprint PCS followed two days later with the announcement of its wireless version of America Online's Instant Messenger.

Wireless instant messaging or e-mail might be critical applications because they are services consumers can grasp easily, but they mark just the beginning of wireless carriers' data initiatives.

"It will be interesting to see how carriers use their position to develop their strategy," said Kendra VanderMeulen, senior vice president of product development and strategy for AT&T Wireless Services. "The big magic is in how carriers execute because they need to follow their footprint first and then go upstream to get applications that are personalized."

AT&T Wireless believes that when it comes to data, packet data is crucial; however, above all, footprint is king, VanderMeulen said.

"When a carrier has a footprint, these other things will come," she said."Then we will need great content and applications."

Like Kelley, VanderMeulen believes the corporate and consumer markets are important, but carriers need to capture the biggest base of customers first, which means pursuing the corporate market.

But there must be collaboration for wireless Internet to succeed.

"In the wireless Internet, no one can do it alone," said John Costello, vice president of strategic alliances with GoAmerica.