WAC expands memberships, launches first spec.

The Wholesale Applications Community (WAC), the alliance designed to build an open platform for delivering applications to all mobile phone users, has expanded its member base with the addition of 32 new organisations from across the industry. The body also announced the availability of the WAC 1.0 specification on Monday.

WAC 1.0 is based upon JIL 1.2.2 and carries on the work of the Joint Innovation Lab (JIL) – an older but similar initiative, which was subsumed by the WAC in February.

Initially, the WAC platform will allow operators to distribute applications through their respective application storefronts and charge users through their existing phone bill. Under this model, developers will set the application price and will receive a revenue share for the transaction, defined on an operator-by-operator basis. WAC is a not-for-profit organisation and will receive a small transaction fee for each application to cover its operating costs. Only in the future will WAC offer business models that enable additional purchases from within an application; leverage network capabilities, such as location, to enhance an application; and facilitate the serving of ads.

The specification is available to download at www.wholesaleappcommunity.com

The initiative is some way behind similar ecosystems already in existence, yet has attracted a total of 48 members, with newcomers including: Accenture, Ericsson, Huawei, Intel, Qualcomm, Samsung, América Móvil, Bell Mobility, Bouygues Telecom, China Unicom, Hutchison 3 Group, KDDI, LG Uplus, MTS, Orascom Telecom, Rogers Communications and SFR.

“The influx of new members, combined with our continued delivery against key milestones, demonstrates that the WAC initiative is gaining significant momentum in the market,” said Peter Suh, CEO of WAC. “The availability of the WAC 1.0 specification sends out a strong message to the developer community that we are committed to working with them to create cross-platform applications that will benefit the entire mobile communications ecosystem.”