Data for Dollars...or Marks Resurfaces in Germany

A major German wireless-service provider said this month that it would start charging users a fee to access data via its wireless Web portal. American m-commerce analysts are voicing split opinions about the move. On the one hand, some say, carriers are investing heavily in new telecom infrastructure and it makes sense that they should look to consumers for a speedy payback, by asking them to pay extra for data services, over and above their connection fees. Nay-sayers on the other hand suggest that wireless carriers should not look to data services as a direct revenue source, but rather as a means to selling more of their chief product: That is, wireless airtime. The player: Deutsche Telekom AG, which operates a mobile Internet portal under the name T-Motion. The plan: To charge users a monthly fee (about $9) to access data services via T-Motion. The German firm has said it will let users access Web data for free until November, and will then start charging the monthly fee. Like DoCoMo in Japan, which has succeeded in charging users to access wireless Web content, Deutsche Telekom reportedly plans to share up to half the revenues with its content providers. The entry will fee buy German users access to some two-dozen services, including sports, financial information, music, news, and a food guide. Deutsche Telekom has said it plans to launch similar services in the United Kingdom and Austria within a year. Users who pay the T-Motion subscription fee will still have to pay for their airtime through a by-the-minute connection charge. T-Motion is banking on the notion that, while users might not pay to access the entire wireless Web, they will pay to gain access to high-value, mobility-specific services.