Mobile & Satellite: Vendors push DIY account handling for mobile users
totaltele.com
By Sheridan Nye
15 March 1999
In the race to bring the Internet to wireless mobile devices, some early applications are emerging that will
hand greater control to end-users. Armed with microbrowser-enabled handsets, wireless customers could
soon be setting up their own mobile accounts, then choosing and activating their own services.
But for wireless network operators, "self provisioning" is primarily about the opportunity to save money -
as much as $1 per minute on the cost of signing up new users, according to Lightbridge Inc., which
provides customer acquisition and retention systems to carriers.
Lightbridge, of Burlington, Massachusetts, is actively promoting the concept to U.S. wireless operators
with a system based on the handset microbrowser from wireless software developer Unwired Planet Inc.,
of Redwood Shores, California. The prototype integrates Lightbridge's customer acquisition and retention
platform, Telesto, with Unwired Planet's UP.Browser and server suite, UP.Link.
Lightbridge's proposition is that corporate and consumer users can activate their phones straight off the
shelf, using the browser to input their contact details and security information directly into the carrier's
Telesto installation. Telesto then handles credit checks and service activation.
The UP.Browser, licensed to around 20 handset manufacturers, is designed for easy navigation of
messaging, directory and information services, mainly via standard mass-market phones retailing under
$300, said Ben Linder, vice president of marketing, Unwired Planet. Web content is delivered via Wireless
Application Protocol (WAP), which runs on top of the UDP/IP stack and optimizes IP traffic for the limited
wireless bandwidth, while stripping down content for the small handset display screen.
As one suitable application, the widespread adoption of WAP-based self-provisioning will happen "in the
near future," said Linder.
Karen Murphy, product marketing manager at Lightbridge, said corporates' mobile communications
departments are keen to take as much control as possible over their wireless service, as are individual
business users.
But if carriers expect customers to set up their own accounts, they will have to simplify the processes
involved, said Murphy. A typical sign-up procedure with a call center or retail outlet involves a new
customer answering between 15 and 20 questions, ranging from contact details, security and credit
information.
Some carriers are considering whether complex rate plans could be scaled down to two basic options -
introductory and advanced - for the purposes of self-activation, she added. Another option could be to
use a voice-activated browser to make the process more palatable.
"This is very much a custom-developed product. The hard part for us is that [the specification] is up to
the carriers," said Murphy. For instance, some operators told Lightbridge they would like to feature
on-line tutorials in the start-up package describing how to use the phone.
However, while the cost-saving potential for the carriers is clear, analysts question whether end-users
stand to gain anything more than an administrative burden.
Jane Zweig, executive vice president at Herschel Shosteck Associates, in Washington DC, agrees that
carriers are exploring every avenue in their quest to reduce customer-care costs. But she does wonder
whether users really care about having the facility to set up their own services rather than simply dialing
into a call center.
Pre-paid services, although more expensive than subscription, are gaining popularity in both the United
States and Europe among customers who are choosing to keep closer control over their phone costs, she
points out.
Even so, as long as carriers can see value in having more automation in their networks, then
self-provisioning is likely to be gradually implemented, said Zweig.
French wireless operator, SFR-Cegetel, will become the first carrier to deploy commercial WAP-based
service later this month. The service features Internet-enabled unified messaging, e-commerce services
and home banking, and is based on Alcatel's HomeTop Solutions platform. Alcatel is also supplying its
One Touch phone featuring the UP.Browser. The service launches on 26 March and will be aimed initially
at the consumer market. SFR's WAP server suite is integrated with its billing and customer-care system to
allow customers to self-activate, as well as add, customize and remove services, said an Alcatel
spokeswoman.
Self-provisioning is also a planned feature of Nextel Communications Inc.'s wireless Internet portal
unveiled last month. Nextel Online extends the operator's nationwide iDEN service to include IP-based
applications such as e-mail, e-commerce and scheduling hosted by the Netscape Custom Netcenter portal.
iDEN is a wireless technology developed by Motorola Inc. to integrate wireless voice, data, radio dispatch
- mostly used by emergency services - and SMS messaging onto a single network. Nextel's service is
predominantly designed for highly mobile industries and professions.
Nextel, of McLean, Virginia, is not disclosing which acquisition system vendors it is working with. But
"there is still a lot of integration work to do," before the company's legacy system is able to support
customer-driven service provision, said Michael Riemer, director of product management.
From the middle of this year iDEN users will be able to trial i1000plus handsets from Motorola featuring
the UP.Browser. In the first phase of deployment, iDEN users will access Internet services via SMS only,
with a dial-up modem option available later this year.
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