Can M-Services Co Right Where WAP Went Wrong?

As anyone who regularly reads my features can attest, I have never been a huge fan of WAP. Now, apparently, the mobile phone industry is attempting to solve some of WAP's longstanding problems. In an effort to avoid the technical and intellectual property roadblocks that have continued to plague the Wireless Access Protocol specification, the GSM Association has announced a new effort called Mobile Services Initiative (or M-Services) aimed at standardizing wireless services around the globe.

M-Services hopes to create a standard set of universally available protocols and services for wireless devices that are consistent among carriers and phone makers, and that better address the needs of consumers. The initiative defines a core set of consistently available services available on GSM systems that adopt the technology. These include enhanced graphics, music, video, games, ring tones, and screen savers, according to GSM Association CEO Rob Conway.

"The wireless industry has established a clear need for M-Services," GSM Association Chair Scott Fox said in announcing the initiative. [W]orking with leading manufacturers of handsets and service platforms, the Association has compiled a set of prioritised, compelling service guidelines--on a freely available basis--that can be offered in the future by any manufacturer of GPRS handsets."

The significance of the announcement is in the power and reach of the group behind it: The GSM Association consists of more than 500 second-and third-generation wireless network operators, manufacturers, and suppliers to the wireless industry. The Association is responsible for the evolution and deployment of all GSM technologies (GSM, GPRS, EDGE, and 3GSM) and its members provide digital GSM wireless services to more than half a billion customers. (The GSM platform accounts for approximately 70 percent of the worldwide digital cellular market, and the membership of the GSM Association spans 169 countries.)

Many of the wireless industry's major players, including Alcatel, BT Wireless, Ericsson, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Vodaphone have come out in support of the M-Services initiative. While GSM is much more widely deployed outside the U.S. than within it, several major U.S. carriers support the technology, including AT&T, Bell South, Omnipoint, Pac Bell, and VoiceStream.

Clearly, there is no guarantee that the power of any one consortium is enough to create a viable, workable standard. (After all, the WAP Forum has more than 500 members.) But M-Services will surely gain from WAP's missteps, and carriers are now in dire need of compelling services--and revenues--to justify their enormous investments in the wireless infrastructure. This time, their very existence may be at stake.