Virgin Mobile customers will be able to browse the Web on
their phones this spring.
The company is introducing a SIM based web-browser which
gives users access to wireless markup language websites,
such as BBC Online and Virgin’s online music retailer,
Megastore Direct.
Virgin has already said that it will spearhead the Simalliance
Consortium, which aims to promote remotely programmable
SIM cards in mobile phones and so-called over-the-air
platforms. This will do away with the need for expensive
wireless application protocol (WAP) phones.
Orange, BT Cellnet and Vodafone have all rolled out Wap
phones in recent weeks, but it is the cost of the phone bill
not the handsets that has shocked some users.