ATLANTA-Cingular Wireless L.L.C. is overhauling its wireless Web service in an effort to woo would-be mobile Internet surfers and boost content sales.
The largest U.S. carrier said it is simplifying its MEdia Net offering, delivering local information and allowing users to customize their wireless data services. The upgrade, which will be deployed nationwide during the next few weeks, will dramatically reduce the number of clicks required for users to access favorite Web sites and shop for digital content.
Cingular began developing the new service as it merged with AT&T Wireless Services Inc., said Jim Ryan, Cingular’s vice president of consumer data products.
“We started to take a hard look at that: both in the U.S. and around the world, who was doing a great job with wireless browse,” Ryan said. “We came to the conclusion that nobody was, including us.”
The upgrade allows consumers to choose a “phone page”-a mobile home page, essentially-that automatically delivers news, sports, weather and other information based on a phone’s billing address. Users who want more detailed information can click to browse the wireless Web via WAP 2.0 technology-a term conspicuous by its absence in Cingular’s announcement. Instead of pushing the technology, the carrier is focusing on consumer-friendly features like simplicity and speed.
“We often in this industry talk about WAP, and you know what?” asked Steve Elfman, executive vice president of technology and operations for InfoSpace Inc., which is powering the service. “The customer doesn’t care.”
Subscribers with data-capable handsets automatically will be migrated to the new service as they access data, Ryan said. MEdia Net service ranges from 1 cent per kilobyte of data to a $20 monthly all-you-can-eat plan.
Cingular also introduced a live ticker, initially available only on the new Motorola Inc. V557, that will provide information that is constantly scrolling across the bottom of a phone’s screen. The offering uses Motorola’s Screen3 technology.
The news comes only a day after Verizon Wireless added a slew of content to its Mobile Web 2.0 service. The nation’s second-largest operator unveiled 16 new applications and content offerings, including video content based on hit TV shows “Desperate Housewives” and “Lost,” daily comics from m-Qube, and local information from Zingy Inc.
