Cingular Unveils New Web Interface For Mobile Phones
NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- In an effort to make surfing the Web easier, Cingular Wireless will unveil a new Internet interface for its cell phones.
On Thursday, Cingular subscribers who access Media Net, which is the carrier's Web browser, will immediately be upgraded to the new service. Cingular hopes the easier service will drive more usage, leading to higher data revenue.
Overall, the wireless industry has seen declines in the core voice business, as competition and programs such as family pricing plans have eaten into revenue. As such, the carriers are focusing more on data services such as text messaging or ringtone downloads as a new avenue of growth. Verizon has done it with its VCast service, which enables streaming videos, while Sprint Nextel Corp. (S) offers its Vision Power plan with music downloads.
Cingular, jointly owned by SBC Communications Inc. and BellSouth Corp., is hoping its new Web interface will be the springboard for broader data usage.
"We needed to find a way to appeal to people and get them to understand that it's more than a phone business," said Jim Ryan, vice president of consumer data products at Cingular.
In addition to the standard topic links such as news and sports, the browser starts with a "home page" with information boxes that customers can customize. The boxes can include snippets of the top news stories, local weather, and other topics.
"There's nothing on the Internet that can give you that level of personalization that quickly," he said. "By using it, you'll naturally start to personalize it."
Despite the "significant" amount of resources invested in the new interface, Ryan said the pricing won't change. Customers currently pay one cent per kilobyte of information downloaded, or pay a flat rate of $9.99 a month.
Cingular, which is the nation's largest wireless carrier by subscriber base, has high hopes that the new Media Net will drive subscriber interest - a quarter of the customer base currently browses the wireless Internet. "We absolutely expect to see a significant increase in users as well as the amount of minutes per user," Ryan said.
The carriers have struggled for years with Web browsing on phones. The cumbersome menus and slow load times make the experience tedious for customers.
"The carriers are trying to wrap their heads around the basic notions of usability," said Mark Rolston, senior vice president of design for Frog Design, a private Palo Alto, Calif., firm specializing in the design and function of products. In addition to reducing the load times, Rolston said creating a more efficient path to the information that the customer wants is key for a better experience.
Along with the new Media Net service, Cingular will debut a "ticker" that runs on the bottom half of cell phone screens. The service, which initially is available only on the Motorola V557, runs a quick summary of news stories. The information is streamed automatically and is free of charge. Cingular hopes that subscribers will click for the full story, which carries a charge. Cingular hopes to have the service in other phones next year.
Ultimately, the ticker and Media Net will provide the platform for Cingular to place advertisements and sell products and services, Ryan said.
-By Roger Cheng, Dow Jones Newswires; 201-938-2020; roger.cheng@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires"
Posted to the site on 17th November 2005