DONALD WIHARDJA <donald_wihardja_at_mail.com> WROTE:
>I believe WAP is a great idea with lousy
>implemenatation so the "greatness" of wireless
>web will have to wait a bit longer. I read an article
>in wap.com that the sister of WAP in Japan, I-mode,
>hits over 17 million subscriber earlier this year.
>Its a great success that it starts to threated WAP
>standard. The key: NTT DoCoMo profit share the money
>gained from caller to the content provider. So yes,
>they provide zodiacs, subway maps, small entertainment
>items, whatever. With 17 million viewers, it has
>great potentials.
I am writing to clarify a comment by Donald Wihardja
regarding the WAP vs DoCoMo model.
The problem with WAP in N America is the fact that
the carriers are effectively monopolizing access
to the system...and therefore content that is available
to end users. In Japan on the other hand, the model
goes such that individual users can and do put up
their own web pages which are accessible to all
subscribers. This system has been wildly successful
as DoCoMo now holds approx 60% market share.
As for advertising never happening on cel phones...
In the current N American system where both the caller
and receiver pay for a call (we are the only place in
the world to do so-everywhere else, the caller pays),
people will probably be less willing to tolerate
advertising since they have to pay for the airtime.
However, if the system ever changes...maybe there
is a future there.
Michael Reznikov
Analyst-Branding Team
Cara Operations
905-405-6500 ext 5202
mreznikov_at_cara.com
Received on Thu Mar 08 2001 - 10:23:14 CST
