Lesson plan
Wapworld
Wapworld was the first commercial mobile internet service to launch in the UK. Conceived and developed by Jingo Communications founder Mark Gibbons, Wapworld provided the first mobile gateway for open internet access to users with WAP-enabled handsets in the UK in 1998. In December 1999 Jingo took its gateway technology and content portal into a joint venture with The Carphone Warehouse and Bob Geldof to support the UK release of the Nokia 7110 handset. Wapworld provided a wide range of content - from news, features and entertainment to online travel and the UK's first mobile shopping service in partnership with Waitrose. Although immediately popular with early adopters, wider market expectations of WAP exceeded the capabilities of the technology and consumer uptake was slow. As a result of resistance from the network operators, and conflicts of interest in the distribution channel, Wapworld closed in 2001. Jingo went on to develop Connect, a pioneering intranet platform, for Bayer, Saatchi & Saatchi, Thomas Cook and BBDO Worldwide and the vote aggregation services behind early reality TV shows including Big Brother.
Article summary
Wapworld was the first commercial mobile internet service to launch in the UK. Conceived and developed by Jingo Communications founder Mark Gibbons, Wapworld provided the first mobile gateway for open internet access to users with WAP-enabled handsets in the UK in 1998. In December 1999 Jingo took its gateway technology and content portal into a joint venture with The Carphone Warehouse and Bob Geldof to support the UK release of the Nokia 7110 handset. Wapworld provided a wide range of content - from news, features and entertainment to online travel and the UK's first mobile shopping service in partnership with Waitrose. Although immediately popular with early adopters, wider market expectations of WAP exceeded the capabilities of the technology and consumer uptake was slow. As a result of resistance from the network operators, and conflicts of interest in the distribution channel, Wapworld closed in 2001. Jingo went on to develop Connect, a pioneering intranet platform, for Bayer, Saatchi & Saatchi, Thomas Cook and BBDO Worldwide and the vote aggregation services behind early reality TV shows including Big Brother.
Key claims
No claims recorded.
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
No sources recorded.
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.