Telenor Mobil announces the launch of a service which will provide mobile phone subscribers with Internet access from their phones. The technology is called WAP (Wireless Application Protocol) and links GSM and the Internet, allowing users access to information and services hosted on standard WEB servers.
"A wide range of services are already available using this technology, for example bus and train timetables, news, weather forecasts, share prices, banking services, encyclopedias, etc.. Services and information are created in WML, or Wireless Markup Language, a language specially developed for mobile phones. It is very similar to HTML, but is adapted for small screens and low bandwidths," says Telenor Mobil Managing Director, Stig M. Herbern.
Telenor Mobil will offer its customers access to a WAP gateway which acts as an interface for customers who want to use mobile Internet services. From here, customers can access a wide range of high-quality WAP services. The interface is structured into 7 categories or directories and each directory includes a wide range of services available to customers.
"We want customers to have access to all WAP services, not just those provided via the gateway. One of the options for the gateway is a therefore a 'Go to URL' field. Customers will be able to access any WML page by entering its Internet address," explains Stig M. Herbern.
"The range of services available is already quite wide and new services are being added every week. This is how it will continue. When customers get up in the morning and switch their mobile phones on, they will probably find that several more exciting new services have become available on the gateway since the previous night," he says.
WAP services are menu-based and interactive, i.e. you can click on menu options and access new options. You can then go back or continue to narrow down the options until you find the service you require. WAP services can also support basic graphics and icons.
Before a customer can start using WAP, their phone must be programmed using certain parameters. In many cases, this will have been done before the customer purchases the phone. If not, the customer must do this himself/herself. At present, phones must be programmed manually using the phone menu. In the near future, this process will be simplified; the customer will be able to send an SMS message until 1999 and parameter settings will be adjusted automatically. The customer will not have to set the phone's parameters himself/herself.
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