Verizon Launches WAP SuperPages.com

Users of WAP-enabled phones and handheld devices will now be able to access Dallas-based telecom company Verizon’s SuperPages.com Yellow Pages directory.

The deal comes two weeks after the company rolled out a Palm.net version of SuperPages for users of the Palm VII PDA.

Yellow page listings are one of the most intuitive applications for the emerging medium, with users able to track down local merchants and also access driving directions through the site.

“The SuperPages.com WAP-enabled product will offer our consumers the opportunity to bring the Yellow Pages with them wherever they go,” said Patrick Marshall, group vice president of marketing of Verizon Information Services, which publishes print yellow pages directories and oversees SuperPages.com. “Our goal is to provide consumers with access to SuperPages.com through a variety of wireless devices.”

SuperPages.com features more than 13 million nationwide business and residential listings, as well as driving directions.

According to company officials, the WAP version of SuperPages addresses some of the usability issues attached to using Web phones by minimizing data entry “to provide users with a simple and quick method of obtaining real-time information,” Marshall said.

The WAP version will allow users to save a merchant’s listing to a personal SuperPages.com wireless address book for quick reference. If using a Web-enabled phone, a user can select a feature to dial the merchant.

SuperPages.com includes listings and directions for about 13 million nationwide merchants, and competes with other directory companies like InfoUSA.com, which recently announced a deal with Kivera, a firm that develops and markets interactive mapping and location services.

SuperPages also recently combined with BigYellow.com, the online yellow page directory of Bell Atlantic, which merged with GTE to create Verizon Communications.