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Mobile Section 5: Questions regarding mobile access to the internet

Question 5: What are the competitive strengths and weaknesses of mobile internet access as opposed to fixed internet and TV internet access?

There are several developing access methods to the internet:

1. Fixed Internet access

1.1 Via LAN at the office through leased circuit access to the internet.

1.2 Dial-up connection from home to an access point of an Internet Service Provider (ISP) via ISDN or via a modem over an analogue telephone subscriber line.

1.3 Via Asymmetric Digital Subscriber Line (ADSL) connection through a local telephone exchange to an access point of an ISP.

1.4 Via optical fibre to a desk-top computer.

2. Wireless (Mobile) internet access

2.1 Via mobile phone dial-up connection to an access point of an ISP using a lap-top PC as a display/input device.

2.2 Via mobile phone/device dial-up connection to a WAP or WAP-like server using a mobile phone/device.

2.3 Via wireless LAN in the office or Bluetooth wireless connection at home (connected to the internet via a wired leased circuit) using PCs and mobile phone/devices.

3. TV internet access

3.1 Via cable modem over a CATV cable to an access point of an ISP.

3.2 As above and using a TV as a display/input device.

Although much of the emphasis to date has involved mobile phone/device dial-up connection to a WAP or WAP-like server, it can be seen that a whole variety of access methods exist. Assessing the strengths and weaknesses of these methods involves the following criteria:

a. Price
b. Speed (bit rate)
c. User friendliness (screen size, input methods etc.)
d. Availability

Fixed internet access

• A LAN connection at the office is the cheapest from the individual user's point of view and usually offers the fastest speed. Since one can use desk-top and lap-top PCs, it is also user friendly. However, availability tends to be limited to office environments.

• A dial-up connection through ISDN or an analogue telephone line via a modem is relatively expensive if the tariff arrangement does not provide a reasonable flat rate. In the US, the local flat rate tariff has contributed greatly to the high penetration of internet access to homes. In countries where there is no local flat rate there is pressure on the fixed (incumbent) operators, such as BT and NTT, to provide one.

• An ADSL connection provides a faster speed, for example, some 600 kb/s from the telephone exchange to the home and 64 kb/s the other way. It provides a fixed connection to an access point of an ISP at a flat rate. It is more expensive than an ISDN flat rate connection. The problem of ADSL is availability - one's home must be located within a certain distance from a telephone exchange - as the bit rate is dependent on the distance and there can be no more than a certain number of users in the same subscriber cable sheath, as electro-magnetic waves spilled out of the ADSL lines will interfere with each other and sometimes with the ISDN lines as well.

• Optical fibre provides a very high speed (in the range of 50 - 150 Mb/s) but the problem is availability as it is not yet extended to homes and the price is high, at least initially.

Wireless (Mobile) internet access

• Mobile phone dial-up connection, using lap-top PCs, is available any place where a mobile phone can be used. The weaknesses of this method are the slow speed (9.6 kb/s) and the high price (mobile phone connections are expensive and charged according to the duration of the call).

• Using a mobile phone/device as a display/input unit has the merit of being convenient as such a device can be carried in a handbag or a brief case, if not in a pocket. However, it may seem less user friendly because of its small size and input through 10-keys, although innovative display and input technologies may emerge in the near future. Its small screen and low power consumption operating system require a whole new set of protocols (WAP), web page writing tools (WML), separate web pages and a new set of software to run on the mobile device. Will the market grow sufficiently to justify the investment in all of these? This seems to be the case in Japan with the success of NTT DoCoMo's 'i-mode' phones. This may lead to the creation of a whole new mobile internet market, separate from the fixed internet market which has evolved up until now.

• Wireless LAN in office environments has not been so successful to date due to the slow speed and new installation costs. On the other hand, a simpler Bluetooth wireless connection may prevail both in the office and at home due to its reasonable price.

TV internet access

• A number of operators offer internet access over CATV cables. When a subscription is made to a CATV operator, it provides a set-top box which becomes its information gateway. The speed that can be obtained through a cable modem is usually very high. However, the problem is that CATV is a one-way, one-to-many broadcasting arrangement, while internet access requires two-way, one-to-one communication channels to individual homes and some older cables are not designed to offer that capability. Therefore, depending on how the cable network is designed, the availability may not be there, or when the number of users sharing the same cable increases, the performance may deteriorate significantly.

• As a display/input device, either a PC or a TV can be used.

• A TV set can be used also as an internet access device but requires an enhanced remote control unit.

• With the coming of digital TV broadcasting the distinction between PCs and TVs will be blurred and a so-called PC-TV war is envisaged. The war will be fought at least on two fronts, i.e., in the terminal market (PC manufacturers versus TV manufacturers) and in the service provision market (telecoms companies versus broadcasting companies).

Which will become the dominant modes of internet access and why?

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