digital deliverance: The State-of-the-Art in Wireless Internet

Once you�ve used broadband, you�ll never want to return to using dialup Internet access. And once you�ve used truly mobile Internet access, you�ll never want to return to using just wired access.

Here in the U.S., most people think of mobile Internet access as Wi-Fi. That�s like mistaking house arrest as freedom. Finding yourself limited to the 100-metre tether of a Wi-Fi connection isn�t true mobility. People roam. True mobility is having an Internet connection everywhere, anywhere.

Consider what device links most people to the Internet? It isn�t the desktop PC, laptop PC, tablet PC, or other luggable devices. The answer is people�s mobile phones. More people use mobile phones than use PCs.

Moreover, all mobile phones manufactured since the beginning of the millennium are digital capable of accessing the Internet. Even the most rudimentary mobile phones nowadays are capable of sending Short Messaging Systems (SMS) text messages. More advanced models such as the Sony Ericcson p900, Handspring Treo 650, or iPaq 6315 can access the Web, e-mail, and telnet servers at dial-up speeds. And the newest models, such as the Motorola V1050, Sony Erricson V800, and Huawei U626 will give you truly broadband Internet access in parts of Europe and Asia.

The United States of America unfortunately is a hinterland for mobile Internet access. The country is two to three years behind Western Europe and three to five years behind many Asian countries in wireless Internet access.

Thus, Americans who design Internet services can learn a great deal from Asia Unplugged, the new book edited by Madanmohan Rao and Lunita Mendoza.

Rao, research director at the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC) in Bangalore (and who some Americans know as a contributor to the Poynter Institutes E-Media Tidbits) and Mendoza, editor of Wireless World magazine in Singapore, gathered 19 experts to report on the opportunities, complexities, of wireless Internet endeavors and businesses in Asia.

I recommend this very comprehensive book to anyone who wants to learn the state-of-the art in wireless Internet access and business. Asia accounted for 36 percent of the world�s telecom market in 2002 and is expected to account for 50 percent by 2007. The continent currently has one third of the world�s Internet users, 47 percent of the world�s broadband users, 95 percent of the world�s 3G mobile users, and seven of the ten most profitable telecom operators.

The book is divided into three sections. The first looks at overall themes such as mobilizing the Internet, location-based services, mobile commerce, government and educational usages. Another section features chapters each examining Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Australia, India, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Nepal, and Bangladesh. And the third is a review and guide to ten other books about worldwide and Asian wireless issues.

Published by Sage Publications in New Delhi, Asia Unplugged is available from Amazon or Barnes & Noble.com. In the U.S., it cost about $75. That�s about what a Wi-Fi card would cost you, but Asia Unplugged will connect you more quickly and richly with all you need to know about the epicenter of Wireless Internet access.

The State-of-the-Art in Wireless Internet

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