U S West Wireless is delaying the rollout of its commercial Web-browsing service until the beginning of next year as it works to understand what its customers want from wireless Internet access.
“We have the capability to do it now, but it’s clear customers don’t just want to browse the Web on their phone,” said Matt Sopcich, director of wireless data with U S West Wireless. “We’ve talked with customers, and a number of different users are trying different applications … It’s clear when we roll out applications that we have to have specific things for customers in a mobile situation.”
U S West Wireless in May announced plans to offer commercial mobile text-based Internet browsing by the fourth quarter, leveraging its parent company’s strength as a landline and Internet service provider. U S West Wireless President Peter Mannetti said the carrier is working on a way to integrate different products from U S West Inc.’s Enterprise Data Group.
“One of the things U S West has never done is be a `me-too’ product supplier,” he said.
The stage has been set, however, for the company to offer access by the beginning of the year. U S West last week announced it is providing its initial set of Web-based wireless information services that lets customers select up to six categories of information, including sports scores and stock-market results. Next month, selected markets will have access to dial-up services that will allow customers to use their Code Division Multiple Access handsets as modems to dial into Internet service providers.
The carrier last week introduced its open-network technology-available to customers in Salt Lake City first-that will enable speedier, more efficient delivery of Internet-based wireless services. The technology was built in partnership with Alcatel, L.M. Ericsson, Nortel Networks and Tekelec.
“We can use many different suppliers because we’re using industry-standard interfaces from the computer industry,” said John Gonner, vice president of operations and engineering with U S West Wireless. “We can use existing computer software and run that over an [Internet Protocol] connection.”
“Before we developed this new architecture, our network spoke the language of the wireless PCS telephone. Now it speaks the language of the Internet,” said Mannetti. “We’re now able to write our own application services on this platform in the standard language of C++. We’re not held hostage to suppliers with new applications. Much like the computer model, we can develop our own applications and features that allow us to differentiate on price.”
