As the year winds down (and aren’t we all ready to put this year behind us and start fresh in January?) RCR Wireless News recaps the top 20 stories of the year (featured on Page 6).
The big stories of the year revolved around a few themes:
c GSM made headway in the states;
c Manufacturers needing to cut costs in a down economy found a few tried-and-true ways of doing so, namely layoffs, outsourcing their manufacturing and even exiting some businesses;
c The paging industry and broadband industries suffered more than other aspects of wireless business in a down economy;
c Consumers got increased attention between billion-dollar RF lawsuits and driving while dialing bans;
c NextWave lost and later re-won its licenses;
c And spectrum issues, particularly with third-generation technology.
A few of the stories RCR Wireless News covered in 2001 did not make it into the end-of-year list, but were still significant for the industry. Wireless stocks took a beating. For awhile, Lucent Technologies teetered near bankruptcy. Paging carriers and broadband carriers went bankrupt. DoCoMo started the year as the carrier to model but seemed to lose some steam by the end of 2001. The Federal Communications Commission tried to make a secret deal with Nextel Communications Inc. for the NextWave Telecom Inc. licenses.
As usual, the year surprised me as much by what did not happen as by what did take place.
Telematics did not make great gains; neither did location-based services. Wireless data still did not hit the upcurve in predicted hockey-stick growth charts. E911 largely didn’t happen, despite the tragedy of Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, which drew even more attention to the potential safety feature of wireless services. Industry is no closer in figuring out whether there are negative health effects from the use of cell phones. Bluetooth technology is not yet a force that the commercial wireless industry must address.
We think we know what 2002 will bring-a public offering by Verizon Wireless, continued consolidation in the U.S. carrier market and perhaps slow but steady gains in wireless data applications. Analysts tell us the economy will not jump back into high gear, but that the worst is over.
But after the chaos of this year, I am putting my predictions right next to my New Year’s Resolution: aside.
