InformationWeek
Defining The Business Value Of Technology
March 20, 2000
 Printer ready |
Rival carriers expected to follow suit if flat-rate scheme proves successful
By Bob Wallace
| Related links: |
|
|
| And from our sister publications: |
|
|
| TechEncyclopedia |
 Send Us Your Feedback |
T&T last week launched the nation's first flat-rate pricing plan for wireless data phone service for businesses, offering unlimited use of its PocketNet service in 3,000 cities. Business users and analysts called the offering a breakthrough that will speed the adoption of wireless IP services for accessing company databases, E-mail, and E-commerce sites.AT&T said the service, which is tied to a new Mitsubishi cellular phone, is the first in a series of services aimed at specific devices. AT&T plans to add services for the latest Ericsson cell phone and the Palm 5 personal digital assistant this summer. The company offers a similar package for notebook computers with wireless modems that's priced at $54.99 per month and is aimed at vertical business markets.
The Mitsubishi MobileAccess T250 Internet phone with a large screen is priced at $199. The PocketNet service is $14.99 a month, but customers must subscribe to an AT&T wireless voice calling plan to get the unlimited data option. Prices for the overall package, including 300 minutes of voice calls, will start at around $75 a month.
"AT&T's plan is a watershed event in the evolution of wireless data services because it will accelerate people's usage of mobile devices to access business applications and conduct E-commerce,'' says Chris Jarman, VP of E-commerce and emerging technologies at MasterCard International Inc. in Purchase, N.Y. "This takes away cost as an impediment to adopting these services and means more people will be using them for longer periods of time and accessing more things."
MasterCard is working with banks and vendors to develop a way for customers to use their credit cards to pay for items bought using wireless devices by hitting a single key, Jarman says.
Countrywide Home Loans Inc. in Calabasas, Calif., says it will use the AT&T service to provide instant home-loan rates to brokers and real-estate agents throughout the country.
Other wireless service providers are expected to watch the results of AT&T's flat-rate, unlimited-use pricing scheme. "Whether they commit or not, others will be forced to offer unlimited wireless data plans to compete. That will create price competition that will provide more choices and save users money," telecommunications analyst Jeffrey Kagan says.
Palm.Net recently revealed an unlimited wireless-access plan priced at less than $50 a month for users of the popular data-only Palm 7. Bell Atlantic Mobile offers a flat-rate wireless data service with unlimited usage for its cell-phone customers in its service region.
AT&T's wireless IP network carries data at speeds of up to 19.2 Kbps; it will be upgraded to 384 Kbps next year, the company says.
"If mobile devices are to replace the PC as the user interface to the Internet, carriers will have to go beyond offering unlimited use of what today are fairly slow services," says Craig Mathias, a principal at consulting firm Farpoint Group. "That's especially the case if these units are used to perform desktop functions such as accessing business applications."
Analysts say wireless carriers will also need to expand the range of their networks, which focus primarily on covering heavily traveled routes. They also will need to bolster security if they expect much E-commerce to be conducted via their networks.
The projected installed base of mobile devices--mainly cell phones with screens and other handheld devices--that can use wireless data services is expected to climb from 43 million by year's end to 400 million in 2003, according to consulting firm Mobile Insights Inc.
AT&T says the key issue for many people is price. Says Kendra VanderMullen, senior VP of product strategy and development for wireless services: "The wireless data market will only grow when there's unlimited usage plans because these plans integrate the services into people's lives without any concern about what their bill will be at the end of the month."
Back to This Week's Issue
Send Us Your Feedback
Top of the Page
