Many operators are demanding that WAP, or Wireless Application Protocol, content providers sign exclusivity agreements, as Typhoon Eight did with Orangeworld. Many also seal their portals, or menus of Internet services, from subscribers to rival services. WAP is driven by a corporate mentality. The World Wide Web was sired by scientists who wanted to share their research and who put a premium on openness and participation. The new, mobile Web is the creation of operators who need new sources of revenue as competition drives down voice-transmission fees.
Content providers hope to make money, too.
Typhoon Eight actually developed its WAP site several months before it launched on the Orangeworld menu on August 1. But it never publicized the Internet address or URL, in part because it had no way to collect fees on its own. We're actually extracting real money from this service. Of course, by staying exclusive to Orangeworld, Typhoon Eight forgoes access to half of Hong Kong's approximately 100,000 WAP users. In Britain and France, regulators recently intervened to force operators to let their WAP subscribers access outside sites.