It looks as though Japan will take over the lead in mobile telephones as its i-mode system gains ground while WAP gives way to GPRS, General Packet Radio Service, the halfway house to full scale 3G third generation phones. Here, Eric Russell explains why.
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is the technology standard that provides a 56Kbs always-on data connection. It represents the first implementation of packet switching within GSM, which is essentially a circuit-switched technology.
It is very efficient in its use of scarce spectrum resources and enables operators to introduce a wide range of value added services. It is ideal for bursty data applications such as email or internet access and can also enable virtual permanent connections to data sources.
This allows information to arrive rather than being sought, something that cannot be achieved using standard circuit-switched networks. GPRS should also reduce access times from 20 seconds or more down to three or four seconds.
Packet data transmission
i-mode has been developed by the Japanese company NTT DoCoMo, the largest cellular service provider in Japan. It is a wireless technology that enables users to access internet services via cellular phones using packet data transmission technology. This means i-mode is always on and users are charged only for how much information they retrieve, not for how long they are online.
It uses the transmission system known as Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (W-CDMA), a standard that is regarded as one of the most promising candidates for radio transmission technology.
W-CDMA allows data transmission with a quality comparable to that of ISDN. It offers high-speed transmission of video and large-volume data with a potential rate of 2Mbps.
W-CDMA spreads a wireless signal over a very wide band of frequencies. When several subscribers use such a system, the radio channel is divided using a spreading code allocated to each subscriber so that communications do not interfere with each other.
This method enables subscribers to communicate simultaneously using same radio frequency. It has been selected by ETSI, the European organisation for telecom standards, for wideband wireless access to support 3G services.
Markup languages
To present websites, i-mode uses a compact, or scaled down, form of HTML, HyperText Markup Language, called cHTML, which is particularly suitable for mobile use. It is similar to a browser such as Netscape Navigator that enables users to access web sites via a WWW address.
HTML has been described as a typesetting code that surrounds a block of text with codes that indicate how it should appear on screen. In addition, HTML enables a block of text or word to be specified as a link to another file on the internet.
The main difference between i-mode and WAP is the markup language used. i-mode uses Compact HTML, while WAP uses Wireless Markup Language (WML), which is not compliant with HTML standards.
But now, Logica, a leading supplier of mobile data technology, has announced the release of m-WorldGate, a commercially available cHTML gateway that will enable operators outside Japan to complement their existing WAP strategies.
One important goal of m-WorldGate is to enable it to handle a number of different mark-up languages, giving mobile operators the opportunity to future-proof their mobile internet strategy rather than tying it to one particular technology.
But the technical differences between i-mode and WAP are complemented by different marketing strategies. NTTDoCoMo has sold huge numbers of i-mode phones in Japan and success appears to be due to the large amount of content available to phone users. In comparison, a main criticism of WAP was its lack of sites to visit.
More than talk
Today, people want their phones to do more than to simply communicate with friends. People want good web sites, lots to buy, plenty of news and other services, a large choice of ringing tones and plenty of entertainment. Today's phone has to do much more than just connect people to their friends. DoCoMo realised this early on and actively encouraged the growth of websites from the outset.
This has been its main selling point, compared to WAP phone suppliers who seem to have concentrated more on the technical features of their phones. In retrospect, WAP was also over-hyped before its launch and did not meet people's expectations.
A clue to the difference in marketing results is given by the names of the two systems. WAP is a technical acronym wireless application protocol - whereas the i in i-mode stands for information, something everyone understands and wants. One system was obviously was prompted by technical influences and one by marketeers.
While i-mode is owned by a commercial company, NTTDoCoMo, WAP protocols are open-specification, meaning that they are discussed, designed, and owned by a democratic consortium of interested parties including the WAP Forum.
But both standards have similar aims: to develop web-like applications that run over wireless networks and are optimised for the challenges raised by small, narrowband client devices such as mobile phones. But as the standards are being developed, each is incorporating features of the other, so there could be convergence towards compatibility in time.
In the meantime, Denso, Panasonic, NEC, Nokia, and Sony are all producing i-mode cellular phones, but they are only available in Japan. Phones feature a comparatively large liquid crystal display and a four-point navigation and command button that moves a cursor on the display.
There are now over 15000 cHTML web-sites designed specifically for the Japanese market with many other non-Japanese internet sites accessible via i-mode. Current cHTML handsets in Japan support such features as colour graphics, animated GIFs and polyphonic MIDI ring-tone downloads, while the new range will also handle Java and 128-bit SSL encryption.
Global expansion
Services are currently only found in Japan, although NTT DoCoMo plans to bring i-mode service into Hong Kong and China and then Europe and North America. Currently there are over 9000 i-mode enabled web sites, including business and personal pages.
The company recently bought a 15 per cent stake in KPN Communications, a Dutch wireless operator, and has established business roots in Hong Kong and China. This will strengthen its relationships with wireless telecommunications operators and other telecommunications-related organisations in those countries.
Recently, NTT DoCoMo has begun to offer English content on its i-mode phones to offer guidance to foreigners currently living in Japan. And to further enhance the i-mode platform, NTT DoCoMo and Sun Microsystems are planning to incorporate Sun's Java, Jini and Java Card technologies into i-mode phones.
This will enable such applications as enhanced banking service security, game software downloads and software updates. While internet cruising speeds are currently 9.6Kbps, peak speeds could hit two megabits per second in a few years fast enough for high-quality music downloads, webcasts of television shows, virtual-reality games and real-time videoconferencing.
NTTDoCoMo has linked up with AT&T Wireless to work specifically on i-mode. The alliances with KPN Mobile of The Netherlands and Italy's Telecom Italia Mobile will give the company a substantial foothold in Europe. It will enable i-mode to target more than 30 million subscribers in Belgium, Germany, Italy and the Netherlands.
New i-mode
A new and improved version of i-mode is available now, called i-appli. Introduced in February 2001, it is Java-based and gives subscribers access to a wider variety of applications.
In the meantime, NTTDoCoMo, with its eight regional companies, is expanding its 3G service with the next phase planned for a late 2001 launch. Hikaru Utada, Japan's most popular R&B singer will spearhead the advertising campaign as her popularity and image is said to match the brand image that NTTDoCoMo wants to promote for its FOMA service. The service will also distribute Miss Utada's songs.
The company introduced FOMA on May 30, 2001, when the company began providing it to 4500 selected monitors. FOMA stands for Freedom Of Mobile multimedia Access and is based on W-CDMA technology that allows users to transmit large volumes of data with a maximum downlink speed of 384Kbps.
However, reports say the initial launch period has not been without problems, particularly freezing of the system which, in some cases, has necessitated the handset battery being removed and replaced to reboot the phone.
In the race to bring new products to the market, it seems that all manufacturers leave some testing to be done by customers.
But pressure to generate profits and to recoup the huge investment in research and development means the situation is unlikely to change.
This means there will be a degree of disappointment felt by users whenever a new product is launched but perhaps people will come to expect that and build it into future buying plans.
