| 2001-01-17 A report just published says that, despite the fact that Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) services are only slowly taking off, the arrival of technologies such as general packet radio service (GPRS) and Bluetooth will push WAP forward into the mainstream. The Frost & Sullivan (F&S) study says that the convergence of the three technologies means that the wireless devices market will take off as the year progresses. This is despite the hype that vendors had for WAP when it arrived on the market a year ago, since then products and services have fallen short of expectations. Jan ten Sythoff, F&S' program manager, and the lead author of the report, is positive about the prospects for the European mobile devices marketplace. He predicts that soaring demand for always-on, all-day wireless connection to the Internet, new billing models and new content and applications will stimulate exceptional growth in the European market for mobile devices. The introduction of new technologies, such as WAP, GPRS and Bluetooth, he argues, will be a boon for Web-enabled wireless devices, turning mobile access into a more user-friendly experience. F&S' survey values the European mobile devices business at $23.7 billion in 1999, a figure that is expected to leap to $48.8 billion in 2006. This, the research firm says, is underpinned by unit shipments more than doubling from 103.2 million to 212.0 million during the same timeframe. The year ahead, meanwhile, will see Bluetooth products hit critical mass, thanks to the fact that, as the era of the mobile Internet dawns, a new range of applications and content are becoming accessible from a mobile handset. Ten Sythoff says that the advent of mobile commerce heralds a surge in sales of WAP, GPRS and third generation (3G) handsets, rising on the back of these devices' advanced capabilities in the provision of applications and services. "These include all types of mobile communications, business productivity applications, entertainment, information and mobile commerce," he said, Ten Sythoff added that manufacturers' decisions to slash prices will drive adoption rates, particularly stimulating appetite for prepaid phones, which represent the majority of new subscribers. "With voice prices declining due to stiffening competition and pressure from industry organizations, mobile communications become more affordable to the mass market," he said, The 4,740 euro ($4,450) report says that faster data transfer speeds and increased bandwidth provided by next-generation networks will have a positive knock-on effect on the development of non-voice applications. One of the most interesting aspects of the report is that it also looks at the development of WAP as the industry moves steadily towards the arrival of 3G networks. These F&S says, will enhance the viability of new applications such as WAP which require greater bandwidth such as graphics, music and other multimedia uses. The report shows that rampant industry investments will step up expansion of upgrade sales. Operators will significantly push upgrade sales of devices capable of using next-generation networks, enabling them to swiftly yield a return on their investment. F&S adds that merging technologies, predominantly Bluetooth and GPRS, are poised to drive handset capabilities. Other technologies such as location finding, color screens, synchronization, digital (video) cameras and downloading MP3 songs, will all heighten the attractiveness and propel usage of these devices. Ten Smythoff says that new billing models for wireless will mark a milestone in the rapid expansion of data usage. The arrival of GPRS and 3G technologies, he predicts, will shift billing models from airtime-based to content-based models. "As the mobile Internet advertising market is getting off the ground, users will enjoy a number of services for free if they agree to a number of adverts or products pushed onto them," he said.
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