.WAP

WAP was hyped at the time of its introduction[8], leading users to expect WAP to have the performance of the Web. BT Cellnet, one of the UK telcos, ran an advertising campaign depicting a cartoon WAP user surfing through a Neuromancer-like "information space".[9] In terms of speed, ease of use, appearance, and interoperability, the reality fell far short of expectations when the first handsets became available in 1999[10][11]. This led to the wide usage of sardonic phrases such as "Worthless Application Protocol"[12], "Wait And Pay"[13], and so on.
Critics advanced several explanations for the early failure of WAP, possibly not realizing that it was a United Kingdom product which had to comply with the laws of European nations. An example is the requirement to utilize an ITU message-type that is specific to the French language with appropriate character conversions being deployed by the WAP message transmit and receive software.
Between 2003 and 2004, WAP made a stronger resurgence with the introduction of Wireless services (such as Vodafone Live!, T-Mobile T-Zones and other easily-accessible services). Operator revenues were generated by transfer of GPRS and UMTS data, which is a different business model than the traditional Web sites and ISPs use. According to the Mobile Data Association, the WAP traffic in the UK doubled from 2003 to 2004.[14]
People are starting to use WAP and the early failures have been masked, as the real point of the system – access to wireless services and applications – has come to the forefront.[citation needed]