Joining several other third-party developers creating applications for the Wireless Application Protocol, CMG Telecommunications introduced its WAP Service Broker, a platform designed to connect wireless phone users to WAP-based content.
The WSB is a platform that carriers can place in their networks to complement WAP servers.
Doug Corrigan, product manager, said WAP provides mobile access, but carriers must provide a portfolio of services to take advantage of that access. That is where the service broker comes in, Corrigan said. The platform also meets security, customer care and content management needs.
“Network operators are increasingly focused on subscriber services,” he said. “Using WSB, providers can package key content pieces especially for (personal communications services) users. The ability to offer personalized subscriptions can offset churn and price competition in the market.”
WAP was made to send Internet content to wireless devices. However, it only will transmit Internet content written in Wireless Markup Language, and Internet language written specifically for wireless phones. Short of knowing the exact URL address of a WML-compliant Internet site, users may be hard-pressed to find Internet information capable of being read on their phones.
“In designing the WAP Service Broker, it became clear to CMG’s engineers that a WAP Gateway alone was not enough to solve the problems facing mobile operators in their efforts to deploy integrated voice/data services to their users,” the company said.
To ease this burden for their customers, carriers must provide a menu of Internet links under several categories of interest that will take users directly to WAP-enabled sites. As WAP services near commercial deployment, more third-party developers are introducing products to handle this function for carriers.
For instance, Phone.com has developed the MyPhone service bureau (see story on page 105), and Web2PCS introduced an Internet search engine that looks only for WML sites. The WAP Service Broker is yet another of these solutions.
The platform provides links to WML-based content providers, as well as the software necessary to connect to them. Users can set up their own customized home page based on their interests, giving them quick link access to specific areas of interest on the Web.
“The essence of the Service Broker is that it sits in the operator’s network and provides interfaces to content providers,” Corrigan said.
The platform has 255 different service plan levels, from which carriers can offer only those that meet its needs. WSB supports several existing and next-generation technologies, including Short Message Service, General Packet Radio Service, wideband Code Division Multiple Access and EDGE.
“Carriers have to create their own service strategy-what they want customers to have,” Corrigan said. “That strategy is implemented by the content providers, enabled through our system.”
The platform also contains tools for billing and customer care.
The company said the WSB is undergoing tests with carriers in Denmark, Ireland and Singapore, and expects to begin U.S. and Australian tests in two months, once it completes agreements with U.S.-based content providers. CMG also is conducting interoperability tests with WAP handset providers as well.
Carriers pay CMG a one-time licensing fee and platform integration costs.
Other CMG products include the Cell Broadcast System and the Short Message Service Center. Its systems are deployed in networks owned by Pacific Bell Wireless, Omnipoint Communications Inc., Vodafone AirTouch plc, Mannesmann Mobilefunk GmbH, Powertel Inc. and Telecom Italia Mobile, among others.
