|
The last few months have
seen amazing rate of development in the provision of Internet Access through
mobile phones. Although SMS or short message service has been around for
some time, and it has been possible to send and receive e-mail through
mobile handsets, access to the World Wide Web through the handset seemed
improbable with a tiny monochromatic screen, tiny keys, limited memory and
wireless connectivity. However, the improbable has happened through a
technology called WAP. Now, analysts predict that soon there will be more
users accessing the web from mobile and handheld devices than from
Personal Computers. In Japan already mobile phones are the most
popular devices for Internet access.
So how is all this
possible?
Mobile phone technology has
graduated from analog technology to the second-generation digital services,
better known as GSM. The International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has
been planning the shifts in technology and the Universal Mobile
Telecommunication System (UTMS) is scheduled to become a standard by 2002.
The ITU is responsible for setting the global standards for telephony. Although there were multiple standards earlier, now global
standards are in place and leading handset manufacturers including Nokia,
Ericsson and Motorola have invested in handset and infrastructure technology
since now they can cater to a global market. The emergence of “Extensible
Markup Language” or XML allowed the development of a technology called the
“Wireless Markup Language” or WML, which is used to create web pages
that could be displayed on handsets. The equivalent of the Hyper Text
Transfer Protocol (HTTP) that manages the link between web browsers and
servers , is known as Wireless Application Protocol or WAP. WAP manages the
link between the web server and the mobile phone.
In order to offer WAP
access to mobile phone users it is not necessary to create a separate URL,
the http server recognises that the request is originating from a mobile
device and redirects the request to the pages created in WML. WAP and WML although quite new, may be interim technologies
as newer technologies are around the corner. Mobile screens technology is
also changing with PC screen technology being adapted for the mobile
handsets.
Currently the bandwidth
available on Mobile phones is 9.6 kpbs which is inadequate for anything
besides SMS, however, UTMS technology will offer bandwidths of at least
512k, which is four times as fast as ISDN can offer, and in the meantime
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) technology will provide 115kbps
bandwidth. The introduction of packet-switching technology will also improve
the quality of service, such as the speed of call set-up. In India several
mobile service providers are offering WAP connectivity, several commercial
organisations including banks (HDFC bank to name one) and stock broking
firms are also providing WAP enabled services. In order to use WAP one has
has to use a WAP enabled handset. Several manufacturers including Nokia,
Erricsson and Motorola are offering these handsets in India. M–Commerce
(Mobile commerce) is the next killer application that is slated to
revolutionise the way transactions take place. Ticket bookings,
reservations, payment of bills, stock transactions and a host of others are
now just a click on your mobile away!
Resources on WAP
Industry
Forums
<http://www.wapforum.org/>
set up by Nokia. Ericsson, Motorola and Phone.
<http://www.mwif.org/>
Mobile Wireless Internet Forum
Equipment Manufacturers
Ericsson
<http://www.ericsson.com/WAP/>
Motorola
<http://gx-2.net/wwow/index.html>
Nokia
<http://www.nokia.com/corporate/wap/future.html>
Phone.com
<http://www.phone.com/>
|
