Wireless information delivery has been around for a long time—indeed, since the first words spoken by human beings. More recently, wireless information has been transmitted through military walkie-talkies and two-way police radios. And now, with the development of wireless devices that can log on to the Internet and send and receive data, wireless communication is joining the digital age. Soon you will be able to use wireless services to easily check up on your stock portfolio, log on to your company intranet, check the weather in cities you visit, and read about restaurants where you might wish to eat.

These developments are the result of improved mobile networks, the emergence of open Internet-based standards, and better technology for hand-held devices. The upshot is that the market for wireless information is finally taking off. Sources of content are proliferating at an explosive rate (Exhibit 1), along with Internet and e-mail usage. Meanwhile, the number of professional people who spend time outside their offices is increasing (Exhibit 2), and they need portable devices to stay in touch (Exhibit 3). By 2003, there could be 60 million users of wireless-data services in North America, and the market could be worth up to...