Wireless Internet: The Players by Tae Kim - A TigerInvestor.com Article
According to a recent report the only two internet-related sectors in the black year-to-date were Wireless Products and Services (+23%) and Security (+14%), the latter mainly because of recent hacker attacks and virus scares.
The mobile internet sector is now widely regarded as “the next big thing” with exponential growth potential. I’ve put together a brief overview of the players and the up-and-coming startups vying in the arena. Hopefully it includes enough random facts that you can pretend to be the wireless expert to your family and friends.
The U.S. Market
500,000 to 1 million wireless internet users by mid-2000 to grow to 10.2 million in 2001 and 38 million in 2003.
Source: WR Hambrecht
The Players
724 Solutions (SVNX)
- Wireless data middleware for financial companies. Revenue from licenses and application hosting. Clients include Bank of America, Citigroup and Wells Fargo
Aether System (AETH)
- Wireless data middleware provider for corporations. Delivers information and transaction services, software licensing and wireless support/professional services. Clients include Charles Schwab, Reuters and Morgan Stanley Dean Witter.
Avantgo (Private)
- Provides wireless data solutions and enterprise web-applications for businesses, primarily on handheld PDA platforms (Palm and Windows CE). Clients include McKessonHBOC and Massachusetts General Hospital.
FusionOne (Private)
- Provides service that lets users synchronize their personal information management data across many devices and internet platforms.
Geoworks (GWRX)
- Developer of operating system software for mobile phones, moving to providing wireless information and professional services. Irking the mobile internet industry by insisting on licensing fees on their WAP-related patents.
Go America (GOAM)
- National wireless ISP for PDAs, Research in Motion pagers, and laptops. 8,700 subscribers on March 31, 2000.
InfoSpace.com (INSP)
- Provides outsourced internet information & infrastructure services for wireless portals. Has relationships with 25 wireless carriers and provides internet wireless portal for 5 of them.
Metricom (MCOM)
- Wireless ISP for latops. Currently 29,000 subscribers in San Francisco, Seattle and Washington.
OmniSky (Private)
- National Wireless ISP that sells service on custom-made wireless modem hardware add-ons for Palm V/Vx PDAs
Phone.com (PHCM)
- Phone.com’s web-browser licensed to 30 wireless phone makers on over 150 mobile phone models. 6 million Phone.com browser enabled mobile phones active worldwide
- 60% market share of WAP gateways
Major National Wireless Carriers
AT&T Wireless – 256 million POPs
Nextel – 272 million POPs
SBC/BellSouth – 186 million POPs
Sprint PCS – 272 million POPs
Verizon – N/A
Voicestream – 220 million POPs
Definitions
CDMA: Code Division Multiple Access. Wireless technology standard popularized by Qualcomm (QCOM) and used by Sprint PCS and Verizon.
GSM: Global Standard for Mobil Communication. Wireless technology standard dominant in Europe and Asia. Used by Voicestream in the U.S.
TDMA: Time Division Multiple Access. Wireless technology standard used by AT&T wireless and SBC/Bell South.
WAP: Wireless Application Protocol. To address issues of limited bandwidth, small display screens and input issues of wireless devices, WAP was created to be a more efficient means of transmission than traditional HTML and TCP/IP protocol. WAP is based on WML (wireless markup language), a derivative of XML |
