Feature Stories - May 2001

Dick Tracy, Your Picturephone is Ringing

Communications in the 21st Century

by Patricia Martin

Less than a decade ago, cellular phones were heavy, awkward and cumbersome items that were generally locked in place in one’s automobile. Users could do little more than place a call on the phone while driving. Today, that’s all changed. The explosive wireless industry now has technology that enables users to hold mobile phones in the palms of their hands with an ease never imagined when the systems were first introduced. Indeed, the technology has advanced to such a large degree that users can simply tell the phone whom to call without dialing a single digit. The phones, which now operate more like computers, also enable users to access the Internet to check stock quotes, shop and download music and e-mails, as well as execute day-to-day business transactions.

Recently, Sprint PCS and Sanyo Fisher Co. unveiled the first mobile phone with color screen capabilities ever to be marketed in the United States. The phone, which costs about $500, has a screen that measures about two inches diagonally and enables users to download up to 20 digital color images. People can link the photographic images to caller ID systems, so users can see who is calling before they take the call. Some service providers hope it isn’t long before mobile phones will actually alert people when to buy or sell a stock, or serve as a credit card, or act as a personal assistant of sorts, alerting the user to the fact that something he or she frequently buys is currently on sale at a nearby store.

While some of those uses may be just wishful thinking on the part of providers, it’s clear that Nevadans are already embracing the wireless technology currently available. According to data supplied by providers, about 50 percent of the state’s population already has some form of wireless communication system, including pagers and phones. AT&T, Nextel, Cingular, Sprint PCS, Verizon and other communication concerns are already present in Nevada and are aggressively marketing their wireless services in an effort to snare a greater share of that growing market.

While the business sector was the first to embrace the new technology these
companies have to offer, providers say their market now includes a wide range of people, from teenagers to soccer moms. "Wireless phones are becoming a necessity for many households in Nevada," said Vicki Soares, public relations manager for Sprint PCS in Las Vegas. "Parents are regarding them as a huge safety benefit for their children." Costs for mobile phone service can range from as low as $16.99 per month to in excess of $200 per month, depending on the level of sophistication of the system.

The emerging wireless technology enables providers to operate in areas where wired systems have not been able to go because of the state’s topography. In Southern Nevada, for instance, anyone digging trenches for wired service is likely to encounter caliche, a form of concrete-hard rock just under the surface. "We can get into a lot of areas where we weren’t physically able to before," said Dave Reda, a sales representative for BeyondDSL, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Internet Businesses International Inc., a Nevada firm that provides high-speed bandwidth systems to businesses and residential customers.

Being wireless gives business users "instant gratification." There’s no need for a dial-up connection. "It’s always-on technology. You never have to view the initial ‘please wait while connecting’ screen," Reda said. Service costs for wireless systems at small to medium-sized businesses can run as low as $150 a month, and they can operate four times faster than wired operations.

BeyondDSL is installing wireless technology at The Lakes, a community in northwest Las Vegas. The system will enable residents to take their laptops or phones anywhere in the community and get hooked up to the Internet. "Residents will be able to sit out in the middle of the lake on their boats and conduct business," Reda said.

Despite aggressive efforts to expand wireless services throughout the state, research shows that only a small percentage of wireless users in the United States actually access the Internet through a wireless device. Study respondents cited a number of reasons for not jumping on the wireless Web, including cost, difficulty in reading screens and the systems’ lack of speed. The survey was conducted by the research firm of Accenture, which surveyed 3,100 wireless users. However, that same survey reported that nearly 40 percent of wireless users in the United States find the option of a mobile Internet appealing. Some industry observers estimate there will be as many as 73 million wireless Internet subscribers in the United States by 2003.

But don’t let those numbers mislead you into thinking the end of the wired economy is near, said Terry Trough, field operations manager for Pac-West Telecomm Inc., a Stockton, Calif.-based provider of wired communications services in the western United States, including Nevada. Pac-West bundles telephone hardware with local and long distance service, high-speed data services, Internet access and voice mail, allowing customers to pay only one monthly communications fee. "Companies have spent billions of dollars over the years investing in wired systems. And it wouldn’t be practical to abandon this technology and move on to an entirely wireless network," he said. Indeed, Trough estimates that Pac-West spent some $18 million just to set up a switching facility and office in Southern Nevada. The company also has operations in Washington, California, Colorado, Utah and Arizona.

There are questions as to the number of people who will ultimately feel comfortable conducting commerce on the wireless Web or divulging personal and financial information on it for security reasons. Currently, it’s estimated there are between 750,000 and 1 million people who routinely use the wireless Web, according to Justin Webb, chief strategist for ViAir, a provider of mobile applications and software infrastructure for the mobile Internet. And studies show that only 4 percent of U.S. households trade online with the wired Internet, and a mere 7 percent of these online traders make more than 50 trades per year.

Still, Sprint’s Soares points out that members of the business community — particularly its road warriors — are already embracing the prevailing technology, and are hungry for more. "A lot of people find it crucial to do a large amount of business while in their cars. And the advances in technology make this so much easier, faster and safer than it ever has been before," she said.

Wireless technology in some instances can save businesses thousands of dollars in monthly service fees, since a wireless office isn’t faced with local loop charges, noted BeyondDSL’s Reda. Loop charges are fees charged to businesses by the companies that control wires in specific areas. "Going wireless can be much more cost-effective for a business, which can get all of its services from one provider," said Reda, who is confident that as technology continues to advance, the wireless commerce market will grow as well. "As the speed and ease of use increases, so will the number of users."