NEW ORLEANS-1999 could be a key year for many carriers in determining if wireless users want to
access the Internet from mobile devices.
Nextel Communications Inc. announced it will begin rolling out limited
mobile Internet access service to six East Coast markets during the fourth quarter, while other carriers have announced
technical trials of high-speed data access.
Nextel hopes to become the first to commercially roll out Internet access
in early 2000 in conjunction with Unwired Planet Inc., Netscape Communications Corp. and its handset and
infrastructure vendor, Motorola Inc. The offering will allow customized network access to the Internet through a
Netscape wireless Internet portal, but is not designed to allow customers to browse the Internet. Customers will be able
to set up conference calls through the Internet and access personalized services such as airline information, stock quotes
and business headlines. Nextel today offers to business customers integrated Digital Enhanced Network service that
combines cellular, paging and two-way radio service in one handset.
Unwired Planet will supply Nextel with its
UP.Browser microbrowser technology and the UP.Link Platform server to bring real-time, two-way interactive
messaging functionality and Internet content access to the handsets. Motorola plans to launch its i1000plus Internet-
capable handset by mid-1999, but Internet access eventually could be available on all new Nextel handsets.
Nextel
plans to spend $90 million to $100 million this year and in 2000 to upgrade its network.
The company said the
Internet-based applications initially will be wireless enabled through the existing short message service features of the
phone and shortly will be complemented with wireless modem dial-up capabilities and mobile Internet Protocol-based
services. Data speeds will begin at 14 kilobits per second to 17 kbps, then work up to 64 kbps.
Nextel holds an
advantage in IP-based services, explained Daniel Akerson, chairman and chief executive officer of Nextel, in a press
conference last week at the Wireless ’99 show. The company’s direct connect service air interface is in packetized form
and migration to IP-based services will be through these packets.
“Right now we are doing a poor job of
heralding iDEN’s advantages,” said Akerson. “We will be in the market in advance of the
competition.”
“Technically, it’s a great feature and highlights Nextel’s technological advantage over the
rest of the industry,” said Timothy O’Neil, wireless analyst with SoundView Financial Group in Stamford, Conn.
“However, this product is not being promoted as a Web browser … You can’t use the explosive growth of the
Internet as an example of how well this service will do. They will be going after a different and smaller
market.”
However, Mark Lowenstein, senior vice president of the Yankee Group’s Wireless/Mobile
Communications practice, believes corporations increasingly will require mobile workers to have seamless access to
the Internet and corporate intranets to stay competitive.
“Over half of existing wireless users are interested in
sending and receiving data when they are mobile,” he said.
Akerson said Nextel will not announce how it will
price the service until a commercial product becomes available.
Other carrier plans
Keith Paglusch, Sprint PCS
senior vice president of technical services and network operators, said the company is testing various data services in
certain markets and plans to launch some services commercially this year.
“1999 will be a big year for
us,” said Paglusch.
U S West Wireless plans to laboratory test high-speed Internet access in Minneapolis
beginning in April in conjunction with Qualcomm Inc. The carrier will use Qualcomm’s High Data Rate solution,
which incorporates switching and routing technology from Cisco Systems and delivers high-speed Code Division
Multiple Access wireless Internet access at peak data rates greater than 1.8 Megabits per second, said Qualcomm.
Qualcomm is supplying subscriber stations and engineering and deployment services for the trials.
Omnipoint
Communications Inc. and Ericsson Inc. signed the first agreement to provide General Packet Radio Services in the
United States. Both companies plan to conduct field trials of several GPRS applications on the Omnipoint Global
System for Mobile communications network during 1999. Omnipoint is planning commercial offerings by mid-2000.
Ericsson said GPRS technology will allow Omnipoint to offer wireless access to the Internet and other IP-based
services at speeds up to 115 kbps.
