WAP service needs speed

The coming of faster Internet access for mobile devices will lead to changes in the way people use mobile phones, PDAs and notebook computers. But according to FarEastone (遠傳) President Joseph O'Konek, the future of the wireless Net in Taiwan depends on finding an answer to one question, "What are people going to want to do with it?"

According to Jesse Wang, telecom analyst at ABN AMRO, one of the major complaints consumers in Taiwan have about wireless application protocol (WAP) telecommunication has been a lack of services. He said there has yet to be a striking reason for a person to say, "Hey, I want to buy a mobile phone to do `this' on the Internet."

The main reason for this lack of applications, according to Wang, has been the inability of service providers like FarEastone and Taiwan Cellular to sit down with WAP site developers and figure out how to share revenues. He pointed out that unlike desktop computers where sites can earn money from banner advertisements, tiny cellular phone screens cannot support such advertising. "The only way is if the operator shares revenue," he said.

In order to move forward into the wireless Web, Wang suggested the service operators develop new ways to share operating revenue gained from mobile phone service. Most operators are trying to develop sites on their own, he said, bypassing a wealth of creative applications that might come from other areas of society.

O'Konak disagreed that the mobile Internet lacked applications, pointing to unified messaging services that transform Internet e-mail into voice text for mobile phone users, mobile phone e-coupons and online stock transactions available through FarEastone as two examples.

He did say, however, that Taiwan has not yet seen the development of an earth shattering, "must have" use for mobile phones outside of, well, talking.

"What's in it for the customer,?" he said. "Is there an application that is going to be mass marketed on this to really make WAP a substantial part of our revenue streams, and how much effort do we put into trying to convince customers that they should be using WAP as a service?"

To boost development of wireless applications, a number of companies have launched subsidiaries and `training centers' to attract software developers and new Web site ideas. FarEastone's pet project in this area has been E.world Holdings, a subsidiary built to help direct investment in good ideas or simply translate a site or application into Mandarin Chinese from another language, which O'Konek says the technologically savvy Taiwanese moved quickly to do.

"When you look in Asia outside of Japan, Taiwan is leading the development of applications and pushing the envelope on the technology much faster," he said, "especially when you think about Mandarin [Chinese language] applications. In Hong Kong and Singapore they don't even launch [sites] in Chinese, they launch in English."

Ericsson has also pitched in to develop wireless Web applications, setting up a WAP applications center during the World Congress on Information Technology last June. In addition, Palm Computing reached an agreement with Taiwan's Infotel Wireless Internet Corp (IWIN, 精奇) to develop a software training house for the Palm operating system (Palm OS) platform last month, to help make more applications for personal digital assistants (PDAs).