Sofman agrees that the wireless Web is difficult now but says that won't be the case in three years. Japan is ready to release a 3.0 G soon after. The U.S. markets are expecting to join in around 2002. And, says Sofman, the transition from wired to wireless will be less painful than the transition from offline to online commerce. Technology is on its way.
Customers are ready for the transition to wireless.
In the six years that we have been involved with online trading we have learned from our customers what they are looking for. Schwab has learned its online lessons well. Six years ago Schwab started out offering cheaper trades for their online customers. Sofman says phase two of Schwab's strategy is to use the wireless devices to carry out the transactions. We are looking to have some type of system that toggles back and forth between data and voice.