Wireless Web

What is the future of the wireless web? Is it something simply relegated to mobile usage on smart phones or is it the wave of the future? Competing special interests make this a discussion fraught with peril – the same companies which have invested in mobile technology are also some of the biggest players in the broadband business. Even manufacturers of smart phones have a lot invested in the status quo.

A recent article by the consulting firm McKinsey&Company asked a series of important questions about the future of the wireless web:

1. Will the mobile Web become a substitute for wired access?
2. Will mobile match the performance for fixed access?
3. Where will people go for the best content and Web applications?
4. Which software interface will organize and manage the wireless Web?
5. Which mobile Web are we talking about?
6. What will the pricing model be?

 

Read the entire article here: https://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/High_Tech/Strategy_Analysis/What_shape_will_the_wireless_web_take_2425

Certainly, internet users are not abandoning their fixed connections; rather, they are adding wireless applications to their current web usage. Yet, public preferences are already shaping the debate. According to McKinsey, "[s]urveys show that two-thirds of mobile-phone owners access data on their devices—up from only one-quarter three years ago—with 60 percent using them for basic Internet browsing. Spending on smart phones, meanwhile, has soared from barely 3 percent of new-phone purchases to nearly 20 percent in Canada, the United Kingdom, and the United States."

Certainly, mobile technology is a huge democratizing force. Accessing the internet from a smart phone is much less expensive than purchasing a computer and signing up for either a broadband or wireless internet service provider contract. Those communities, typically on the losing side of the digital divide, are suddenly able to access all kinds of information on the internet and to take part in important public debates through mobile technology.

But, the question remains – how will the entrenched interests in the marketplace respond?