The world, as we now
know it, is changing at a terrific rate due to
technology advances. 1984 was a major milestone for the
telecom industry in the 20th Century. Not
only because the AT&T monopoly had been broken up
(although it was important), but because that was the
year we were first introduced to wireless service. We
can all thank William McGraw for mobile communications.
His dream and persistence to make it a reality has made
our lives that much easier, or difficult depending on
your perspective.
What started out as a
novelty to those who could afford the service, has now
became the property of the masses, a multi-billion
dollar industry that created well known brands such as
Motorola, a pioneer in the cellular phone manufacturing
industry, followed by Nokia and others.
Many of us will remember
that the first cellular phones in use were fairly large
and heavy to carry around, now known as the
"brick" phone, with the first cellular phone
being offered in 1984 by Motorola, the DynaTac 8000X
with a price tag of $3,995 and weighing 2 pounds. And
in 1991, the Motorola MicroTac Lite was considered the
lightest phone yet and retailed at $1,000. As a credit
to technology, we now carry cellular phones small
enough to carry in our pockets and they cost a lot
less. Look at the Star Tac or Nokia 252 phone in
comparison. Not a bad run for a relatively new industry
and service. The future will hold more in store for us
than we may think. Some very interesting gadgets are
already in testing by the manufacturers.
We can now go into rural
areas, dial on our phone and not have to worry about a
call being dropped with the number of towers being put
up for the cellular phone user and to maintain the
traffic of the ever increasing call volume. However,
rural areas offer the least amount of traffic and are
less cost effective to most companies, with a lack of
towers available to pick up and route a cellular call
being the biggest problem.
Traffic in the metro
areas has grown to such an extent that towers are now
being placed on buildings to accommodate the growth.
Keep in mind that to put up one tower costs a whopping
$150K on average. You can imagine the amount of capital
laid out in the structure alone to provide cellular
service.
Progression of the
technology in cellular service is moving at stellar
speed. Every year we find ourselves faced with the
dilemma of more choices. You must choose the type of
phone you want, the calling plan that works for you,
and the type of network service. Not to mention the
various accessories now available for cellular phones.
To some users, the
cellular phone is no longer a luxury but a necessity.
We use them for emergency roadside assistance, citizen
patrols, faxing, business, and personal use in general.
Infiltration of the cellular phone into every day life
is becoming more apparent.
This in turn has created
booming telecom advancements. 1987 was noted for having
1 million subscribers in America for cellular service.
Five years later in 1992, there were 11 million
subscribers to cellular phone service. Currently there
are about 400 million cellular phone users worldwide.
Out of that, the US has nearly one-quarter of the world
subscriber base for cellular phones. It is projected
that in 2003 there will be over 1 billion cellular
phone users worldwide.
With the FCC focus on
the RBOC and Cable companies seeking to enter the long
distance market, and mega mergers, the wireless
industry is a low priority. Deregulation of the
cellular phone service will be a while in coming. The
most current aspect of the wireless industry being
monitored by the FCC is the auction on bandwidth used
for cellular phone service. It appears as if it will be
some time for this shadow to be brought into the light.
