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Over a fifth of India’s mobile subscribers access the Internet on their mobiles
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PHOTO: MURALI KUMAR K.
NET GAIN Advanced handset will enable easy access to the Internet
I might be late, but I am now one among a club of 40 million. I can now access the Internet on my mobile. The latest data on Internet usage by the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) can be interpreted in two ways. It is an embarrassment tha
t broadband is not even barely managing to meet set growth targets but the number of people using the Net through their mobiles is now stunning – almost a fifth of the 200 million subscribers countrywide.
Why did it take so long for me to get online on my mobile? First is the obvious, I needed a capable handset. That taken care of, it was a question of being able to afford the access. Fortunately my mobile operator decided to slash charges, making it just about worth the money.
All it took was an SMS and the service was activated. And there is no need to do the settings manually as most handsets today come pre-configured and choose the settings based on the SIM card. You fumble when you first go online on the mobile, but soon you get used to it like messaging. Using the WAP browser that comes standard with the phone can be a pain as it cannot format all webpages to the mobile screen, so using a mobile version of a dedicated Internet browser is the answer. My handset comes preloaded with Opera Mini, which is a nifty application. My phone uses GPRS (General Packet Radio Service) to send data. It is classified as a 2.5G technology, that is in between second generation and third generation (3G). 3G is still a mirage in India, so GPRS is the easiest way to get online.Patience is definitely advised when surfing. Pages will load but might take their own sweet time. You can make it faster by turning off images, but that spoils all the fun. Also ensure you are in a location where you have ample signal strength. It is definitely an advantage to be connected but, hold on, GPRS isn’t going to set the standards for the future.
Mobile Internet will only get the push to make it dominant when more and more of the iPhone-class devices start hitting the market. These are handsets that will come enabled with wireless broadband as a standard feature — the Wi-Fi that you use to network your laptop and possible even Wimax as we move on.
Why wireless broadband?
Well, it has almost become the most accepted standard for networking a variety of portable devices. Most urban centres today are able to offer Wi-Fi hotspots or Wimax nodes. It offers speeds that make GPRS and another standard EDGE look really obsolete. With broadband on your mobile, you can enjoy not just voice calls but even video conferencing.
But there is an even more significant advantage it offers. It will be independent of your cellular service operator. So you need not be held to ransom over tariffs. But are cellular operators happy? Definitely not. With the proliferation of such devices and the growth of VoIP, traditional cellular telephony might just become obsolete.
Internet on mobiles is a big opportunity for advertising. No wonder Google is throwing its hat into the ring early. Rumours of the Google Phone have been doing the rounds for some time. It has even got Vodafone Chief Executive, Arun Sarin talking. He recently said: “What is it that is missing in life that they are going to fulfil? You can reach Google already through a number of devices. You don’t need a Google phone to do that.”
The Google Phone has been touted as an entirely new handset or just an application that anyone can install on their handsets. Whatever it may be, the future of how we access the Internet is going to be something to watch closely.
ANAND SANKAR
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