While cellular phones are delivering convenience and flexibility that is far superior than traditional wired phones, fixed wireless systems are bypassing cable and phone networks to carry the high-speed Net services. Many options provided by wireless technology are still in infancy phase, and there is no evidence to validate a replacement of conventional ways of telecommunication with wireless technology. However, we sense a potential paradigm shift that will make our Internet service faster, more flexible, and more widely available. Following are some predictions made by research agents in companies such as Merrill Lynch. Revenue is expected to skyrocket this year for carriers like Teligent and Winstar, which use industrial-strength versions of fixed wireless technology to zap broadband services to business.
Analysts expect the share prices of leading wireless technology and service companies to soar.
Microsoft staked out turf on the wireless landscape over the past year, making investments and creating technology that will help people reach their e-mail and corporate networks from handheld computers and mobile phones. The number of professional and amateur programmers working to create wireless data applications has jumped from 4,000 to 25,000 since August, says Sprint PCS CEO Andrew Sukawaty. Despite the claims made by the third generation service providers that speed of mobile wireless equipment will increase dramatically, most wireless phones today handle data transmissions at about one-quarter of the speed of a 56K modem and are confined by information tailored to the miniature screen. Speed will the biggest hurdle to this kind of project. Fixed Wireless Not long time ago, a wired network is necessary for an application to gain information from a central database.