HANOVER, Germany-Until demand for Wireless Application Protocol handsets increases, L.M. Ericsson won’t manufacture WAP handsets in volume, the company said at CeBIT 2000.
Carriers have criticized manufacturers for being too slow in shipping WAP phones in volume. Ericsson President Kurt Hellstrom said at a news conference he expected the WAP market to coincide with General Packet Radio Service technology, according to international press reports.
Hellstrom said current data transmission speeds are too slow for sending data to wireless phones, but that large volumes of WAP handsets would be available in the third quarter.
Carriers currently are updating their Global System for Mobile communications networks with GPRS technology, which promises to provide 115 kilobits per second data capability.
The world’s third-largest cell phone maker, Ericsson said its R320 WAP handset will be initially available in the first quarter and the R380 WAP phone in the second quarter.
