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Local mobile-phone operators are gearing up for the next wave of communications

 

TECHNOLOGY

Wireless era under way

TONY WALTHAM

The WAP (wireless application protocol) portals are in place and local mobile telephone giants Advanced Info Service and Total Access Communications have been busily upgrading their wireless infrastructure.

This enables the privileged minority who can afford those handsets with the fancy big screens to check their e-mail, review news headlines, execute buy or sell orders on the stock market or even do a little e-banking.

All pundits, analysts and consultants agree that wireless communications will be the next big thing for Thailand, for Asia and, indeed, for the rest of the world - only the details in their timetables differ by region and country.

Goldman Sachs says that by 2003 there will be one billion wireless phones, while IDC predicts that, in just 15 months, more Americans will own cell phones with Internet access than Net-connected PCs. Forecasts for Thailand are naturally more conservative, but the enthusiasm for wirelessness is palpable.

The first fully broadband or 3G (third generation) wireless networks are now poised to be rolled out in Japan next May by NTT DoCoMo, and the system will offer 386Kbps mobile links and 2Mbps fixed links. If you are looking for an indication of what this might mean, Texas Instruments chief executive Tom Engibous gave an idea in views expressed at a seminar in Tokyo earlier this year.

New applications

He said that wireless Internet devices would not only capture some existing PC applications, ''but would introduce brand-new applications that the desk-top PC has no way to handle today.

''I think the availability of a wireless device that is online all the time with broadband data capability ... offers the possibility of applications that Silicon Valley is just beginning to dream about,'' he added.

In Thailand, we will have to wait a little longer to feel the impact of 3G, but both AIS and TAC are pouring billions of baht into enabling their networks for data.

Both companies had been scheduled to launch WAP gateways and network data transmission speeds of up to 115 Kbps in December 2000, while handsets from Ericsson, Motorola, Siemens and Nokia are ready and WAP portals were lining up, including those from PointAsia (www.wopwap.com), Internet Thailand (wap.thai.com) Siam2You (wap.siam2you.com), MWeb (mobile.mweb.co.th) and Samart (wap.samarts.com).

Behind the scenes, the Governmentûs National Electronic and Computer Technology Centre (Nectec) is investing 50 million baht over the next five years in research and development for next-generation wireless services, including the development of WAP and 3G mobile phone technology to build the countryûs skills for the future, according to Nectec director Dr Thaweesak Koanantakool.

PDAs, primarily from Palm, have raised their profile in Thailand over the past year and, in October, PDA Thai Palm was established to better market the ''Thai-hack'' Thai-language interface and input system for the Palm hand-held devices developed with support from The Value Systems.

According to statistics from Palm's distributors, The Value Systems and Ingram Micro, total volume shipments of Palm Pilots in 2000 would be more than 30,000 units - an increase from 7,500 units in 1999 - and The Value Systems predicts that the sales of Palm in 2001 will be double those in 2000.

Less visible in Thailand now, but nevertheless waiting to make their mark, are the Pocket PC PDAs, the Journada and the Ipaq made by Hewlett Packard and Compaq respectively. Worldwide demand that exceeds production capability has meant that these devices are still a genuine rarity in Thailand, but these fast hand-held PCs that run Microsoft Windows CE and which sport a colour screen with a fast processor on board should further shake up the local PDA market this coming year when they will appear on the shelves.

PDAs and mobile phones are destined to become one device, especially when mobile wireless communication is capable of delivering Internet content on a wider basis. Underscoring this are Motorola's plans to introduce a mobile phone running the Palm OS in 2002.

Expanding market

New mobile phones will have an expanding market in which to sell: mobile phone users in Thailand now number 2.6 million but are expected to reach six million by the year 2002. Boston Consulting Group senior manager Matthias Goertz believes that Thailand will likely follow the Japanese trend (read: an enthusiastic embrace) with mobile phones because Asians are generally more accepting of small screens than are Americans or Europeans.

One area where mobile phones are expected to do well is location-based services, including directions on how to locate a product or service, while in the United States GM subsidiary OnStar will have installed GPS locators in one million cars by the end of 2000 to help with driving directions and to warn drivers of traffic ahead.

Overall, Internet access fees are likely to continue to drop thanks to competition which has seen prices fall to one-fifth of what they were just five years ago, according to Internet Thailand president and chief executive Trin Tantsetthi. He asked if the fees for mobiles at three baht a minute were high enough to inhibit mobile commerce.

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