Title: The wireless mobile internet: an international and historical comparison of the European and American wireless application protocol (WAP) and the Japanese iMode service

Authors: Geoffrey Elliott, Huong Tang

Addresses: Faculty of Business, Computing and Information Management, London South Bank University, London, SE1 0AA, UK. ' Faculty of Business, Computing and Information Management, London South Bank University, London, SE1 0AA, UK

Abstract: This paper provides an international comparison of the economic and technological differences between the Wireless Application Protocol (WAP) and the iMode mobile Internet service. The WAP delivery of wireless mobile Internet services is concentrated in Europe and the Americas. The iMode service is predominantly Japanese. The paper outlines and explains the development of WAP and iMode and provides a brief comparison with wired network architecture models. The paper concludes with an analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of WAP and iMode and provides a review of future trends in wireless and mobile Internet service provision.

Keywords: wireless mobile internet; wireless applications protocol; WAP; iMode; m-commerce; Japan; United States; mobile commerce.

DOI: 10.1504/IJITM.2004.005037

International Journal of Information Technology and Management, 2004 Vol.3 No.2/3/4, pp.268 - 281

Published online: 23 Aug 2004 *

Full-text access for editors Full-text access for subscribers Purchase this article Comment on this article