Global Wireless Data Market on the Move
In its report "3G Wireless: Global Data & Voice Networking Strategies: WAP, GPRS, 1XRTT, EDGE, and Internet Access," Allied Business Intelligence (ABI) projects that by 2005, there will be more than 240 million global data users, up from 26 million in 2000. Larry Swasey, vice president of Communications Research at ABI reports that he has seen "a significant amount of movement in the wireless data market over the last 10 months," and he perceives a great deal of potential in this market.
The majority of wireless phone users have already been or will soon be exposed to truncated data access which uses web sites specifically formatted in handheld device markup language (HDML) or Wireless Access Protocol (WAP), an open global specification for wireless devices to access information and services. With truncated access, consumers obtain quick information such as news, weather, and stock quotes, and can also use the handset as a low-speed modem when plugged into a notebook computer (see figure).
In the US, service providers such as such as Omnipoint Communications (Cedar Knolls, NJ—recently merged with VoiceStream Wireless Corp., Bellevue, WA), AT&T (New York, NY), and <%=company%> (Kansas City, MO) are already offering this type of limited data/Internet service. Sprint PCS is currently offering truncated wireless data service based on cdmaOne, a second generation CDMA technology with data speeds of 14.4 kb/s. This year, the company plans to use compression technologies to increase these data speeds to 28.8 or 56 kb/s.
Sprint, Bell Atlantic, and Vodaphone Airtouch plc are all using HDML, but Swasey expects most of the carriers using HDML to port over to WAP in the near future. According to ABI, thirty-seven operators had made WAP announcements as of January 2000. The WAP standard was developed by WAP Forum an industry association that boasts more than 200 members, spanning handset manufacturers, carriers, infrastructure providers, and software developers.
On the international scene, wireless data service is attracting attention in the Asia Pacific region. Japanese service provider DoCoMo is attracting a lot of interest with its i-mode truncated access, and its competitors (DDI and IDO) recently launched CDMA-based data service as well. ABI projects that this region will account for more than 1/3 of the data users this year and will adjust to 25% by 2004 as other regions come on line.
Higher levels of wireless data access will be achieved using General Packet Radio Service (GPRS), which also uses WAP. GPRS is essentially an upgrade to second generation (2G) systems, employing packet-switching methods instead of the circuit-switching methods typically used in voice telephony networks. In the US, Omnipoint began field trials of GPRS in December of 1999.
ABI points to Western Europe as a strong market for GPRS. Swasey observes that at least 100 million subscribers in Western Europe will be offered this wireless data service this year. The ABI study predicts that Western Europe will account for one-tenth of the data market this year, but will grow to nearly 1/3 of the market by 2004. Vodaphone Airtouch plc announced plans last December to begin launching GPRS service to its GSM customers in the UK, Netherlands, and Greece. The company plans to use GPRS equipment from Ericsson. The only obstacle to a successful GPRS rollout, according to ABI, is that handsets for GPRS are not available yet.
Looking ahead, third generation (3G) wireless data protocols that are expected to enable full Internet access include 1X Radio Transfer Technology (1XRTT) for CDMA or Enhanced Data Rate Global Evolution (EDGE) for TDMA.
According to Oliver Valente, vice president of Technology and Advanced Systems Development, Sprint PCS plans to trial 3G 1XRTT service to its US vendors this year, with service rolling out in the second half of 2001. The company anticipates that 1XRTT will "nearly double the voice capacity, offer 10 times the data speeds we have now, and increase battery life in the handsets."
About the author…:
Janine Sullivan is a contributing writer for Wireless Design Online. Janine is also the former editor of Communications Products magazine and the founder and owner of The Write Solution, a technical writing agency. Janine can be reached at The Write Solution, write@interactive.net.