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 by 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 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 content from as many as 16 categories, including news, sports and weather. Local information can be customized based on each subscriber’s billing address.
InfoSpace Inc. is powering the service, providing an integrated storefront, self-care customer service and parental controls, and reports on consumer usage. InfoSpace is also behind Media Net’s local search offerings.
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. “The customer doesn’t care (about the technology).”
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.
With the upgrade, Cingular hopes to build on its lead among mobile Web users. While Sprint Nextel Corp. boasts the largest proportion of mobile surfers among its subscribers, Cingular has more users than any other U.S. carrier, according to M:Metrics. The operator claims nearly 25 percent of all U.S. consumers who access the Internet through their handsets, the research firm said.
From a carrier perspective, the new Media Net may offer the best of two worlds: while it allows users to customize their wireless Web experience, the carrier continues to control content that is automatically delivered. And the more consumers become accustomed to surfing the Web on their phones, the more content they’re likely to discover, said Ryan.
“As soon as you reach a point where you get your users to start configuring their personal Web browser to get information, then you offer a tremendous amount of opportunity to present them with the opportunity to go and buy value-added content,” Ryan said. “(Media Net) is really interweaving those two worlds together in a very logical way.” The operator 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 ticker uses Motorola’s new Screen3 technology, which allows service providers to deliver Internet information without initiating a WAP session. Cingular’s news came 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.
