The thrill is gone

ATLANTA--The ongoing theme in the mobile wireless industry these days is: Tone down the hype surrounding the promise of the wireless Internet.

It’s the same theme, regardless of what country one lives in. Richard Zawila, chief technical officer of Maxis Communications, a GSM operator in Malaysia, said the misperception of wireless Internet is that people won’t need their personal computers anymore. They can access the Internet via their wireless devices or handsets.

“This is dangerous because we can’t meet these expectations,” said Zawila during Supercom 2001’s panel on the wireless Internet.

Zawila noted that the take-up of WAP-based (Wireless Application Protocol) services via circuit switched connections was slow when the company introduced the service. Expectations were set too high, he said.

Trials conducted of the company’s General Packet Radio Services based on WAP have concluded that customers are willing to pay for mobility, and the majority of customers used GPRS to access entertainment between activities and as a vehicle to provide them with consistent updated information.

“People are willing to pay to be mobile,” said Zawila. “Less than 5% expect GPRS service for free.”

The top three services were Internet information such as news, weather and sports, location finder services and virtual pet games, said Zawila.
Lynette Luna is Senior Editor for Telephony. She can be reached at lyluna@qwest.net.