THE MICROSOFT WIRELESS STRATEGY.

Ben Waldman, who heads Microsoft's Mobile Devices Division, recently offered a rare in-depth look at the "deep understanding of the wireless space" that he says his company is beginning to develop. "We certainly haven't been very vocal about our efforts in this area," he told attendees at this week's Lehman Brothers Wireless Internet Conference. "But we've spent a lot of time speaking with our customers, mobile operators, handset manufacturers and others to understand what they wanted to do with these devices."

This feedback, Waldman says, has literally transformed Microsoft's traditional focus on desktop PCs to a more communications-centric vision--"to empower people through great software, any time, anywhere, and on any device." Microsoft has only begun to evolve this vision, he admits, but so far the company has figured out a few key points:

* Wireless is a three-part problem: To be successful in the wireless space, says Waldman, "a lot has to come together." One essential component is access to content--everything from corporate data on a mainframe to weather and horoscopes. A second critical component, which he says is "the biggest box," is the carrier, who provides the middleware infrastructure and "controls the billing relationship with the customer." And finally there are the wireless devices themselves, where the critical issues are interface design and application portability. Microsoft is in a good position to build end-to-end wireless solutions, Waldman argues, because it's "the only company with investments and assets in all three areas, in the content, the servers, and the devices."

* There's no one ideal end-user device: "Whenever I talk with a customer and ask about what sort of device they want to use to access the Internet," says Waldman, "the kind of device which everyone describes is different. And, of course, it's with equal vehemence that they insist that it's the ideal sort of device that we have to go ahead and build." In turn, he says, Microsoft has "learned the hard way" that it can't just shrink down the Windows interface for small devices; instead, there will probably be multiple interfaces that are optimized for PDAs, smart phones, and other handheld devices.

* Corporate e-mail is a killer application: "Seamless access and secure access to corporate information is one thing that people are asking for, are crying out for," says Waldman. "And it's where we think Microsoft is poised to deliver a lot of value."

* Open standards are essential: "We have no intention of creating or forcing an all-Microsoft solution on people," Waldman promises. "Each piece of our wireless value chain communicates with other pieces through Internet standards--so you'll be able to use non-Microsoft devices to talk to our servers, you'll be able to use our devices to talk to non-Microsoft servers, and to access our content or other people's content as well."

* Revenue will come from access fees: Instead of trying to squeeze money out of OEM licenses and application software, says Waldman, Microsoft expects to charge monthly "subscriber access licenses" that wireless carriers will pass on to their customers. When the carriers see that Microsoft will help them generate higher billings, Waldman adds, "they'll certainly be willing to share part of that upside with us."

Ben Waldman, vice president, Mobil Devices Division, Microsoft, One Microsoft Way, Redmond, Wash. 98052; 425/882-8080.