Mobile Phones Head Online in 2000 BBC Segment That Captured the First Waves of Pocket-Sized Web Access

BBC’s Maya Even greeted viewers on a February evening in 2000 with a simple question about the future. She introduced a report from The Money Programme that examined how phone companies and tech giants poured billions into linking mobile devices to the internet. Nils Blythe took the story from there, traveling first to Tokyo where the shift already showed real momentum.

Masakuri Bayashi, a Tokyo student, pulled out his i-mode phone for the camera shot. Talk about getting mainstream: nearly 4 million of these things were sold in Japan in just the last year. The phone proved useful for checking email, keeping track of bank balances, and even transferring money without having to go to the bank. He also emphasized the cool factor, such as sending fast messages or playing a game with your friends while out and about, and how everyone appeared to like the ease of having these little websites right on their home screens.

Takeshi Natsuno, the man behind i-mode at NTT DOCOMO at the time, spoke with the BBC from his office and showed off one of his company’s phones. He took a picture with a small camera he had attached to it and transmitted it to a colleague’s phone. He then demonstrated some flight booking websites and a fishing game that required you to tap away on the keypad, which was a great way to pass the time. His attitude was that the little screens would win people over, despite initial concerns about their ability to manage them. i-mode has undoubtedly boosted his company’s stock price, despite the fact that internet use continues to account for less than one percent of overall income.

Blythe spoke with an analyst who pointed out the limits. Voice calls and longer connections brought in the real money for carriers, while quick data bursts added very little. Japan stood out for its enthusiasm for new gadgets, but the reporter wondered aloud whether the same interest would appear in places where people found even basic electronics tricky to operate.

The scene then shifted to Cambridge, England, for a closer look at developments closer to home. David Cleavely held up one of the first WAP phones available in Britain. The device featured a larger screen and allowed users to pull up information, complete simple transactions, or send email. Cleavely described it as the start of a major change in how people carried and used their phones. He noted that current speeds felt slow, but upcoming third-generation networks promised to match the pace of a home computer.

Blythe explained that building those faster networks required new licenses. The British government planned to auction five of them the following month, drawing thirteen bidders from the biggest operators. One executive from a leading bidder described a vision where the phone in a person’s pocket handled everything from buying train tickets to chatting with friends or planning a holiday. He spoke with quiet certainty about demand growing sharply within a few years.