Shaking Off the Wires

The wireless tidal wave is just offshore, so learn your way around WAP before it hits

Hank Simon                

In the United States today, 75 million people use cell phones and 40 million people use pagers — all of them are potential wireless Internet device users. In contrast, only 40 million desktop users have Internet access. By summer 2001, the number of wireless users who can access the Web should catch up to the number of desktop users. In fact, IDC predicts that by 2003 more wireless users will have Web access than “wired” users.

Seems like only yesterday when the Web was the next big thing for global information transfer. Today, the Web is an accepted part of our culture — the cost of doing business — just like a telephone and fax. Tomorrow offers a new promise: wireless Web access, anytime and especially, anywhere, by using wireless devices, such as a laptop computer, cell phone, handheld computer, or even a pager. This new freedom from wires and cables is the purpose of WAP.

If you believe the hype, your organization is already behind if you’re not using WAP. But the reality is that only 30 percent of the companies I informally surveyed at a recent wireless conference have adopted WAP. At this point, most people are simply interested in learning more about it — Michael D. Bailey, director of engineering at InfoSoft Technologies Inc., told me the number one question at a recent WAP conference was “What is WAP?” — and in this column, I’ll try to answer that question.

What Is WAP?

WAP is a fresh, new innovation with much potential. It’s a protocol for requesting, transmitting, and receiving data across a wireless network in a format that a mobile platform can present on a small screen through a microbrowser. WAP is based on an open specification distributed by the WAP Forum, which Ericsson Inc., Nokia Corp., Motorola, and Phone.com Inc. (formerly Unwired Planet) founded in 1997 to create an Internet standard for wireless phones. Phone.com also makes the standard WAP microbrowser that it licenses to most wireless phone manufacturers. In three years, the WAP Forum has grown to include more than 200 members.

WAP is a well-organized effort and used widely in Europe, especially in Finland where Nokia has trouble keeping up with the demand for WAP phones. WAP is just catching on in the United States, however, mainly because the United States has such a good landline phone infrastructure. Europe’s and Asia’s were not as good, so when wireless came along, there was not as much competition or resistance to implementation. In addition, they chose a single standard, while the United States has multiple standards. For example, Nokia has no competition in Finland, so it was easier to convert the smaller country. However, by mid-2001, all cell phones in the United States will be WAP-capable.

WAP requires minimal resources on the wireless end, making it useful for small devices like cell phones and palmtops. The real work happens at the server end, just as in many browser-based applications on PCs. WAP devices, both server and microbrowser, communicate using wireless markup language (WML), a derivative of XML and based on the earlier handheld device markup language (HDML) developed by Phone.com

What Is WML?

WML is the markup language that sits on top of WAP. It is what HTML is to the conventional Web. WML is a flavor of XML and lets Web page developers create information that handheld computers, palmtops, smart cell phones, pagers, and other wireless devices can read. The WAP standard works with cellular digital packet data (CDPD), code division multiple access (CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), global systems for mobile communications (GSM), and other wireless standards.

Wireless devices communicate through the wireless network to a WAP server. A WAP server converts data or Web pages between WAP and TCP/IP. This conversion lets conventional Web servers send WML pages to wireless devices, which use microbrowsers that let users surf the Web.

According to Mark Beckwith, president of Intrig Software, a custom software engineering company specializing in wireless software and WML site development, “Developing WML is a pleasure. Due to bandwidth and screen size constraints, focusing on content and organization is key. Sites must be designed efficiently. WAP/ WML has added benefits, allowing multiple pages to be downloaded at once and navigated locally on the device.”

Tools are emerging that will automate the ability to author content for multiple devices: cell phones, palmtops, and desktops. XML will help this situation by separating information into pure XML content and pure XML style sheet language (XSL)-based presentation. The point is to design an XML document architecture that separates presentation method, which varies by device, from content. In this way, the XML-based content can be translated to HTML for conventional browsers and to WML for microbrowsers by using different XSL scripts.

Why Surf by WAP?

The conventional Web protocol, HTTP, is mainly text-based and works poorly over a wireless network. In addition, browsing an 8-1/2 by 11-inch page represented by an 8003600 screen would be difficult on a three-inch cell phone screen. WAP and WML are optimized for small screens, two-line text displays, and the graphics on smart phones, handheld devices, and palmtops. But do you really need to check your stock portfolio, email, or horoscope on the highway or in the local pub? In other words, does WAP support business?

How Does WAP Support the Business?

A lot of the hype surrounding WAP is about browsing the Web. Being able to surf the Web using your cell phone is cool, but how does it make money? WAP capability is different from conventional desktop browsing. A WAP-enabled device can browse only WML sites. If the Web site doesn’t have WML access, then a WAP device can’t get to it. Wireless technology must both support and enhance productivity of the enterprise, or it’s not worthwhile.

WAP can support the business by improving productivity with its other capabilities. For example, Web-based calendars and messaging services are useful business applications for personnel on the road. WAP can send data from a Web page to any WAP-enabled wireless device. Other productivity-enhancing applications include address books, email, and Web-based database access. Users on the road can access their email, and salespeople can access customer and catalog data. For example, they can check inventory, place orders, and confirm order status, providing on-demand information to the customer as needed. Realtime data goes a long way toward closing the deal and satisfying the customer. For those who can accept the size vs. data-access trade-off, the cost, productivity, and convenience can be very appealing.

Enabling Your Corporation for Wireless

Because of the unique nature of WML, simply porting HTML pages to WML will not work. A separate site is necessary. WML sites are mostly text, with simple graphics. (Most phones do not display graphics yet.) Wireless Web sites are predominantly navigation menus. Because of the screen size constraints and text entry complexity on today’s devices, simplicity is a basic design guideline.

In addition to developing text content, you must also configure the Web server to provide both WML-based content to wireless devices and HTML or XML content to traditional desktop browsers. Although WML sites are simpler than HTML sites, they are inherently more individualized and lend themselves to greater customization. This benefit lets users obtain exactly the information they want.

What Are the Trade-Offs?

Most commercial wireless networks support only about 9,600 bps data transmission rates. (Remember V.32 modems in 1994?) More important, what kind of surfing can you do on a three-inch screen? At those transmission rates, graphics are minimal or nonexistent at best. Although you cannot use complex graphics, you can browse simple things such as email, messaging, customer information, and catalog data, as well as access weather, stocks, airplane reservations, and so forth. The disadvantage of simpler presentation may be balanced by the advantage that business travelers can access information on the fly.

Although the cost to develop and deploy a wireless portal is high, costs will go down rapidly, as with any Internet technology. CIOs should approach this like any new technology — with prototype projects in which the user is so much more effective with the wireless capability that the payback is high enough to justify the cost.

Currently, there is a significant consumer cost in using a cell phone to browse the Web. Cell phone users are charged on a per-minute basis. This pricing scheme will eventually be replaced by free, unlimited access. The costs will be offset by advertising, just like the emerging trends with free Internet access.

Future Trends

Devices will soon be geo-aware; they will know their location. For example, CDMA phones already know exactly where they are, because global positioning system units are in CDMA cell sites. Soon you will be able to use that technology to get directions. And you will be able to ask your phone where the nearest Burger King is.

Overall, Europe is far ahead of the United States in its adoption of wireless data. (60 Minutes ran a news item on this capability a few months ago.) In Europe, you can order and pay for a soda from a soft drink machine with your cell phone. The cost is part of the resulting phone bill.

Advertising will be another major revenue source. However, it will be more focused than desktop Web advertising. For example, your phone may display an advertisement for Burger King at lunchtime. When you select this item using your microbrowser, directions to the nearest Burger King will be displayed. (Yes, I’m writing just before lunch.)

The main appeal to mobile devices is giving “people on the go” easy access to your products. They do not have to be tied down to their desks to take advantage of e-commerce. WAP extends the Internet and all its information sources to the wireless arena with comparative ease. The applications are limitless, and many opportunities are available for making money in wireless and WAP.

The predicted growth of wireless communications suggests that the growth of Web page visitors from the wireless community will outgrow the number of visitors from the desktop community. This development means that, more than ever, an e-commerce Web page might be accessed by anyone, anywhere, and anytime with wireless devices.

WAPWATCH

WHO ARE THE PLAYERS?

BellSouth

BellSouth is planning to offer services such as email, maps, driving directions, news, sports, and weather on its cell phones.

Ericsson

Ericsson has three available wireless phone models that are WAP-ready: the MC 218, the R320, and the R380.

Harris Bank

Harris Bank, a subsidiary of the Bank of Montreal, was the first U.S. bank to use WAP to let customers access accounts, transfer money, and receive customized stock, news, and weather information via their cell phones. The system depends heavily on XML and the open financial exchange (OFX) dialect of XML to transfer information from the server to wireless devices.

Intel

Intel opened a Japanese-based wireless research and development facility in February 2000 to focus on the next generation of cell phones. The new facility is Intel’s second effort. The first was a center in Sweden. Both efforts will help Intel develop a broader base of mobile communications processors.

Intrig Software

Intrig is a custom software engineering and consulting company in Fort Worth, Tex. that designs and develops Web sites and embedded software for cell phones, pagers, and other wireless devices. Intrig bridges the gap between traditional Internet, wireless Web, and wireless devices. It worked with Motorola on its most recent two-way pager, Anritsu Co. of America on its next-generation cell phone test equipment, and WagerDog.com on its wired and wireless Web sites.

Microsoft

Microsoft was asleep for about two years before it realized the importance of the Internet and Web, but not with the wireless Internet. Bill Gates was a keynote speaker at the Cellular Telecommunications Industry Association (CTIA) convention in New Orleans and demonstrated an entire vertical Microsoft solution to wireless Internet — everything from a wireless device running Windows CE to accessing MSN — using nothing but Microsoft software.

Nokia

Nokia is a major player in the WAP movement, with its own WAP server and proprietary microbrowser. More than 70 percent of the population in Finland use mobile phones compared to less than 30 percent of the United States population — so the opportunities in the United States are significant. Nokia is at the forefront of the European wireless data market and is well positioned for the coming U.S. explosion.

Northwest Airlines Inc.

Northwest uses WAP for an abbreviated version of its Web page so travelers can browse for flight arrival and departure information and their up-to-date frequent-flyer mileage.

Palm Inc.

Palm has already developed its own wireless Internet-access technology called WebClipping that comes with the Palm VII. However, Palm plans to use the WAP microbrowser technology in future versions of the Palm OS.

Sabre Inc.

Sabre Business Travel Solutions, also based in Fort Worth, collaborated with IBM and Nokia to use XML to pre-tag data before converting it to WML format. The customized system lets customers use their cell phones or other wireless devices to check flight information. Although this system was homegrown, Sabre wants to avoid developing further multi-interface systems (Web and wireless) until better development tools are available.

Virgin Mobile Telecoms Ltd.

Richard Branson of Virgin Records fame has entered the mobile arena in a big way. If you buy service through Virgin Mobile, you get the phone and a Virgin wireless homepage. From there, you can buy records, clothes, books, and so on from more than 200 companies.

Visa

Mobile phone users can locate the closest Visa ATM with a WAP cell phone. Users simply type their current ZIP code into the phone and Visa’s Global ATM locator guide provides the location and details of the three nearest ATM machines.