Wireless technology providers have achieved far greater penetration in Asian countries, such as China, Japan and Korea, because mobile handsets sold in those countries are designed to house new forms of wireless architecture, according to Mark Hartley, local sales director for mobile infrastructure provider 724 Solutions.
Hartley complained that Australian telcos only offered wireless content that could be accommodated by existing handsets, and that manufacturers in Australia built handsets that did not sufficiently accommodate new wireless technologies.
As a result, content offered to Australians over wireless devices, such as WAP handsets, was limited to small packages of text. -The GSM network really only allows us to transmit text," he said.
-Handsets in Japan are built around the technology. Here, the handsets are lagging behind."
Hartley said Australians had been further dissuaded from pursuing wireless content arrangements because talcose charged users for the length of each wireless -session", rather than for the -depth" of content downloaded.
-Here you pay for how long you are logged on. In Japan you just pay for what you send and receive," he said.
He said inflated promises made by content providers surrounding the capabilities of WAP (wireless application protocol) had led to a market misconception that Australia was slow to embrace all wireless technology.
-People get hung up about saying WAP is a disaster," he said. -WAP is only a small part of wireless."
Although 724's Asia Pacific operation is based in Sydney, most of the Canadian company's local business is conducted in other Asian countries. Hartley said the company was currently involved in discussions with some finance and banking operators in Australia.
