To feed consumers? ever-growing need for information and services on-the-go, the United States Postal Service has gone mobile through the launch of a device-optimized WAP site.

Customer convenience and product access are the focus of expanding the most popular online services onto Web-enabled mobile devices. Some of the most popular functions currently available on usps.com are now available on mobile devices: Track & Confirm, Post Office locator and ZIP Code lookup.

?This mobile site is part of our ongoing strategy to reach customers wherever and whenever,? said Greg Frey, a media relations representative at USPS, Washington. ?Everybody knows they have a local post office station or branch near them and we are trying to make our key online site features available to consumers who are out and about and need that information.?

An independent federal agency, the U.S. Postal Service is the only delivery service that reaches every address in the nation, 149 million residences, businesses and Post Office Boxes, six days a week. It has 34,000 retail locations and relies on the sale of postage, products and services to pay for operating expenses.

With more than 232 million mobile communications devices in the United States - a growing number of which can access the Web - the promise of Internet access from virtually anywhere in the country is fast becoming a reality.

Any mobile user with Web access will be able to log on to the USPS mobile site no matter where they are, without having to use a personal computer.

Consumers on the road will be able to use the Post Office locator function to find a post office that is close to them. And they will also be able to track and confirm delivery of their mail or packages using their mobile phone.

USPS is also designing applications for smartphones such as Apple?s iPhone and Research in Motion?s BlackBerry, which take advantage of additional capabilities such as GPS.

The mobile applications will make it easier for customers to interact and transact business with USPS.

?When consumers enter usps.com on their mobile device, they are routed to a mobile-optimized version of the site that has the user experience in mind,? Mr. Frey said.

?Our plans for smartphone applications stems from our overall strategy of bringing convenience and product access to customers in whichever way they prefer it,? he said.