Don't Be Zapped By WAP!

Bobby Anthony

Mobile telephony is finally taking off in the country. Newer technologies are being introduced which means more handsets would have to be sold. Needless to say, handset manufacturers are happy. However, before channel partners rejoice, it may be prudent to study the implications of newer technologies replacing older ones.

Take the case of Wireless Application Protocol (WAP). Currently, WAP is being touted as the best thing that happened to mobile telephony and it would seem that it makes sound business sense for channel partners to stock WAP-enabled handsets.

Investors in stock market, for instance, would gladly buy WAP-enabled handsets to browse the Net for the latest stock quotes. But WAP enabled handsets are not exactly selling like hot cakes. Nokia and Motorola were the first to introduce WAP phones in the country. A month after they were introduced, WAP phones have not found many takers. Also, there does not seem to be a rush by the already cash-starved portals to provide WAP-enabled services. There are, of course, a few exceptions like Rediff.com.

However, all this need not be bad news for channel partners, unless they have bought large stocks of WAP-enabled handsets. Fortunately, that is not the case, because WAP-enabled handsets have just been introduced and are in short supply. In any case, when WAP phones will no longer be in short supply in the next couple of months, neither do they have to buy big marketing campaigns, nor pick up large stocks!

To know why, all that they have to do is look around them. There are quite a few good reasons. For one, mobile phone service providers like Orange will soon be providing a new service called General Packet Radio Services (GPRS) that will allow customers to remain "always connected" to the Net. Orange is already upgrading its back-end systems to enable them to offer GPRS. It has already announced that its will be using the services provided by Motorola for the purpose.

BPL Mobile is also upgrading its network to offer GPRS. According to officials, the service should be available a few months after Motorola delivers equipment. Anil Gajwani, VP, Technology and Information Systems, Orange, says, "We are upgrading systems. We should be able to offer the new service in next few months’ time."

GPRS, the new data transmission technology, is optimized for "bursty" datacom services such as wireless Internet and multimedia services. It is also known as GSM-IP (Internet Protocol), because it will connect users directly to ISPs. One of the main benefits of this new packet-switched technology is that users are always online, unlike in the case of WAP services, where users will be wasting at least one to two minutes of precious air-time merely to connect to the Net. With a GPRS-based service, the user does not have to "connect" to the Net.

Also, GPRS phones will offer the additional benefit of conducting a voice call and data retrieval simultaneously. GPRS phones are more complicated than WAP, as they have two transmission and receiving stations. Over the GPRS network, connectivity is faster at 114 kbps, than dial-up connectivity through a modem at 58.8 kbps. Besides, users may not have to pay for the time that they are connected, unlike a dial-up connection.

In fact, mobile service providers are of the opinion that WAP phone is are merely an interim product and will be replaced by GPRS phones in the near future. Channel partners ought to realize that ‘near future’ in this case is merely six to eight months!

Therefore, the current craze for WAP phones may subside with the new GPRS service, as cellular phone users upgrade to GPRS phones. Gajwani says, "WAP phones may be an interim product, and the value addition that a GPRS-based service offers is unlimited in comparison. But GPRS phones will be more expensive as they are more complicated."

Incidentally, GPRS handsets have been announced internationally by companies like Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia and Siemens. With Orange and BPL Mobile all set to introduce the new service, Motorola will soon introduce GPRS phones in India. So channel partners need not worry about WAP not becoming popular. Instead, of getting zapped by WAP, they might as well try to deal in GPRS handsets.

Evaluating cellular phone technology can be a hazardous task given the high rate of obsolescence. Some of the words, channel partners are bound to hear in the near future are UMTS and WTLS, which will enable m-commerce or mobile commerce. They will also hear about "phonecasting" or broadcasting over cellular phones. Yes, we’ll soon be able to see Tendulkar batting live, right on the cellular phone screen and place bets as well! So, remain up-to-date with technology so that you don't end up with dead stock.