Bell unveils plans for wireless Web access
By Bloomberg News
Special to CNET News.com
news.cnet.com
November 8, 1999, 9:45 a.m. PT
Joining the race to bring Web access to mobile phones, Bell Atlantic unveiled plans to offer email and other features to its digital wireless customers for $9.95 a month.
The new Web Access plan will be available to Bell Atlantic customers on the East Coast starting November 17, the company said. To take advantage of the service, customers will need a Web-enabled phone from Qualcomm.
As technology improves, wireless companies are adding data and other features to phones to increase their use. Sprint PCS rolled out its Wireless Web service in September, and Vodafone AirTouch's AirTouch Cellular unit began selling wireless Internet access in three markets in July.
Boston-based market researcher Yankee Group forecasts that the wireless data market will grow from $1.8 billion this year to $13.2 billion by 2003.
In September, Vodafone and Bell Atlantic agreed to combine their U.S. wireless assets to gain coast-to-coast coverage. This will cut costs by decreasing the number of calls their customers will make on other carriers' networks.
The Web access service will allow customers to access information such as weather, news updates, or flight reservations from their phones. The Qualcomm phone also has a built-in dial-up modem, which customers can use to connect to the Internet using laptop computers with a Bell Atlantic connection kit.
Customers who add the Internet service to their calling plan will be able to use monthly minutes for voice or data calls. |
