NATSUKO SEGAWA
Staff writer

The Internet will open fabulous opportunities and change people's lives in ways that can only be imagined now. That was the message of the panel that discussed "New Businesses Emerging with Mobile Networks and Digital Home Appliances."

A picture was painted of wireless phones dominating access to the Internet in only a few years and home appliances equipped with new technology playing an increasingly important role.

Andy Green, group director of strategy and development at British Telecommunications Plc, said the mobile phones would develop into a personal window on to the world, where people can access news, contact family and friends and receive all kinds of information and services. All electronic gadgets in the home will be connected to the Internet, which will permit remote control of the appliances," he said.

"Even my toaster will be a better communicator than I am," joked Tadashi Onodera, executive vice president at long-distance phone carrier DDI Corp. He agreed that the mobile phone will be the leading means of access to the Internet. "E-commerce will be developed mainly through mobile phones, because carriers can collect even small payments efficiently," he said.

Driving technology

On the business side, Onodera said electronic commerce has enormous potential and will be driven by mobile technologies, adding that future mobile-phone users will all be Internet users as well.

Jorma Ollila, chairman and chief executive officer of Finland's Nokia Group, named three conditions to provide information smoothly: low costs; open networks; and easy operation. Mobile phones meet all three conditions, while personal computers are still too difficult to use for a lot of people.

Mobile phones are viewed as personal, trusted devices. "Ease of use is driving the popularity of mobile phones. You don't need a manual," he said. Ollila predicts mobile phones will increasingly be used in place of wallets full of cash and credit cards as open standards become prevalent in mobile-phone networks.

Susumu Furukawa, chairman of Microsoft Co., the Japanese unit of Microsoft Corp. of the U.S., said "this is the beginning of the PC-plus era not the post-PC era." Future services will be wide-ranging, he said, and all devices will possess intelligence.

Wireless technology will provide a seamless transparent connection between a variety of devices, panelists agreed. Brian P. Dougherty, chairman and chief technical officer at Wink Communications Inc. of the U.S., said interactive TVs would provide a bridge over the digital divide. Many people are intimidated by technology, but no one is intimidated by their TV, he said.

Information can be delivered more easily through interactive TVs, providing a gradual entry into the digital world. Industry is trying to give consumers a jet when all they need is a moped, Dougherty said, adding that TVs could also be used effectively and cheaply for making e-commerce transactions.

Some panelists expressed disquiet over the lack of global standards. Chuck Parrish, executive vice president at Phone.com Inc. of the U.S., argued that global standards were necessary. He said his company helped to found the Wireless Application Protocol, which aims to make different systems compatible.

Dougherty said it was a mistake for Japan to hold back, waiting on the development of digital technologies.

Furukawa was also critical of the Japanese mode of data broadcasting, which is unique to the country. "An open world should be created. If you isolate devices, there will be an ugly divide, which will hinder the participation of other countries and hobble Japanese doing business overseas," he said.

Onodera emphasized that Japanese manufacturers should take a more active role in setting international technology standards. "A closed world is not good," he concluded. "We need a common platform."

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