IM, Shopping, Gambling Will Drive Wireless Adoption

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February 23, 2001 (1:55 PM EST)

IM, Shopping, Gambling Will Drive Wireless Adoption

SEATTLE—Familiar desktop applications like banking, instant messaging, games and comparison shopping are quickly migrating to handhelds and cell phones, fueling the wireless craze in the United States and around the world.

At least that is the view of veteran wireless industry analyst Alan Reiter, president of Wireless Internet & Mobile Computing, a New York consultancy. Reiter spoke Thursday night at a meeting of the Washington Software Alliance, Washington state's primary trade association for technology companies.

As phones become simplier and easier to use, Reiter said, the same consumers who clip coupons and stand in long grocery store check out lines would jump on the opportunity to exploit wireless comparison shopping. A service hooking up comparison shopping with product analysis and reviews could fundamentally change retail shopping, he said. Dealtime.com, which invites customers to use its service to shop anywhere, anytime using a mobile phone or PDA, is one of the companies making strides in this area, he said.

Reiter said Americans are way behind in using their wireless devices in many areas, including entertainment. "We are just not getting it," he said.

Widely adopted European wireless services include theater ticketing, multi-user games, music—and, where legal, gambling.

In Europe and Japan, customers also use wireless banking services to check credit card and checking account balances, and receive e-mail notification when a payroll direct deposit has been made.

The United States is definitely lagging behind in its wireless banking services, Reiter said, describing the banking and telecom industries as "two dinosaurs mating."

Reiter, who has been analyzing the convergence of wireless communications and computing for two decades, had few good things to say about U.S. carriers and described the current market as a "bloody mess" with many conflicting standards.

On the other hand, Japan's NTT DoCoMo has experienced phenomenal success with its i-Mode platform and has raised significant revenue selling bits of information and content for small fees that eventually tally up to large sums.

As far as U.S. carriers, Reiter said that Sprint (stock: FON) and AT&T Wireless (stock: AWE) were the most aggressive in wireless data, and that Verizon (stock: VZ) and Voicestream (stock: VSTR) were also ones to watch. Far from being over-hyped, the wireless revolution is just beginning, with the United States in the position of playing catch-up, Reiter said.

"We're getting to an age where we're finally realizing the phone is more than just a toaster," he said. "It's a platform."