“On top of that, you will have fixedmobile convergence, where people will use the same handset for local and wireless service,” says Cleland. “The next generation of competition will be all about fixed-mobile convergence, about having the wireless connection in your home be the same as your cellular connection outside the home. When you go into Starbuck’s, you might switch to a WiFi connection. And when you’re in trouble on the highway, your connection might be through GPS 911.”
Isn’t that exotic for today’s technology? “No,” says Cleland. “Everything in the industry is coming together to allow for this. Moore’s Law has made chipsets stronger than ever. And this is pushing handsets to become tech-com handsets
as distinguished from telecom handsets. And there is more to come. Wireless
phones that function as smart credit and debit cards. Wearable devices — wireless phones built into coats.”
Will consumers pay for these advancing services through their wireless phone accounts? Some analysts note that many of these services are popular today but free. What happens to consumer acceptance when a price tag attaches to a formerly free service?
“Technology drives content,” responds Cleland. “We started with movie theaters and developed content in the form of two hour movies. Then came television, for which we invented the hour drama and half hour sitcom. Now we have a third screen, and we’ll see an entirely new kind of content suitable for a handset. It will look good on a threeinch screen. It will cover short time-spans. People will watch while they are waiting in line or riding the subway.” Life will be a little easier, a little
more fun. And that might be a good way to describe a golden age.
