TO INFINITY AND BEYOND - A BIG YEAR FOR WAP
D.W. Cleverley Ford · Traffic Technology International · 2001
Following the initial publicity concerning the mobile WAP (Wireless Applicatio Protocol) Internet phone, usage rates are said to be increasing and BT Cellnet is reported as having over 1M handsets in the UK. Users are discovering which WAP services have the greatest value such as those which are either/or both, time-critical or location dependent. Examples are the Webraska traffic maps designed to show traffic congestion conditions in and around major cities. This service is live on operator's portals in Europe such as SFR in France, KPN in the Netherlands and ADAC in Germany. In the UK, the Kizoom timetable and real-time information service for the rail network has achieved high usage during Railtrack's railway network problems. Future developments are likely to offer real-time, multi-modal routing, mapping and spatial functions giving traffic optimised routes and journey-time estimates.