(Nikkei BP Group)
(No.1 High-Tech News Site in Japanese)
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| TU-KA Group Employs WAP Protocol for Mobile Phone Service
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January 18, 1999 (TOKYO) -- Three group companies of mobile communications
operator TU-KA Group said they will offer mobile phone service using
the wireless application protocol (WAP).
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This follows similar moves by NTT Mobile Communications Network, Inc.,
(NTT DoCoMo), IDO Corp. and Cellular Phone Group.
The service will start in autumn 1999. The three TU-KA companies are
TU-KA Cellular Tokyo, TU-KA Cellular Tokai and TU-KA Phone Kansai Inc.
Since the end of October 1998, TU-KA Group has been offering a "SkyMessage"
service that enables users to send and receive character-based messages
of Internet mail with a mobile phone. The company has also been studying
providing a character-based information service using SkyMessage.
In Japan, the WAP protocol is likely to become more popular for character-based
information services. IDO and Cellular Phone Group will start their
WAP service in April 1999 and NTT DoCoMo, the largest mobile phone service
operator, will begin a similar service in spring or summer.
Under such market conditions, TU-KA Group decided to offer WAP service
together with the current SkyMessage service. Contents of the WAP service
are under study.
TU-KA Cellular Tokyo plans to join the WAP Forum, a WAP standardization
body. The three group companies will develop system and service applications
together.
WAP is a light protocol designed for mobile phone/personal handyphone
systems (PHSs) that have a limited display area and communication speed.
With a WAP-compliant phone, it will be possible to browse Web pages
or use Internet mail via a dedicated server. Applications can include
information distribution such as news or weather forecasts and transaction
services such as ticket reservations.
(Nikkei
Communications)
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