Having learned from the success of NTT DoCoMo's I-mode service in Japan, the GSMA has worked with the major mobile operators to specify a common set of services and a graphical interface, called M-Services, for the next wave of phones.
The M-Services guidelines, backed by mobile giants including BT Wireless, Ericsson and Nokia, define an interface for phone browsers, and a framework for multimedia messaging and downloading content.
The intention is to ensure broad interoperability and usability while providing a stable foundation for content developers.
The GSMA said M-Services would be available on a range of devices, from monochrome handsets to full-colour multimedia devices. It also wants to introduce further guidelines, so, for example, certain buttons could have the same function on all phones. However, the wait for M-Services could delay IT managers' plans to roll out GPRS phones.
Mauro Sentinelli, managing director of Telecom Italia Mobile, said, "NTT didn't succeed because it was a great technology, but because it had a standard interface. With GSM we have the technology but we had to co-operate and clean up the standard."
Don Listwin, head of Openwave, a software developer that has worked on M-Services, said M-Services was as big a step for mobile phones as moving from DOS to Windows was for PCs. Openwave writes WAP browsers using XHTML and cHTML, the languages behind I-mode.
Peter Judge of analyst firm Infonetics was cautious about the prospects for M-Services.
"The industry accepts that WAP was a disaster, and this is meant to be a comeback," he said. "But there is a big difference between setting a communications standard, which the GSM Association did well, and setting a services and graphic interface standard."
