Crossroads

On so many levels – some more tangible than others – the wireless industry stands at a curious (but not necessarily critical) juncture as tens of thousands arrive in Las Vegas for the big CTIA show.
Wireless is the disruptive technology that will drive the networks of the future. It’s no accident so many once-distinct sectors – the Internet, news, music and entertainment, photography, navigation, gaming and gambling, health care, education, public safety and so on – are converging and coalescing around small handheld devices that began as a rich man’s toy to make simple phone calls. That was before the democratization of on-the-run yakking, texting, Web surfing, music downloading and the rest that caught fire with the masses.
Still, with all that, it is not an exaggeration to suggest the wireless industry has just begun to scratch the surface of yet-conceived possibilities. Of course, many things are technically possible that consumers and business could care less about. It’s all about the elusive sweet spot wireless carriers and application developers dream of nailing. They’ve actually managed to strike gold here and there. But, interestingly, there’s a reverse dynamic at work that has users and Web-savvy entrepreneurs outside the wireless orbit increasingly coming up with some of the best ideas of the day.
Though wireless technology makes it all happen, it can be argued this is less of a technological revolution than a cultural revolution. It is one that is wreaking havoc – benign and otherwise – on the way humans interact with each other and with faceless machines – some that speak the King’s English.
Still, this is far from a love fest for the wireless industry. There are consequences for being successful; there is a potential policy revolution in the making. Policymakers at the FCC, in Congress and in the states want service quality and reliability, billing, customer service, advertising and 911 service for cellular consumers on par (or better) than that associated with landline telephone service. Lawmakers, consumer advocates and public-interest groups want citizens to have the same ability to attach different devices and applications to wireless networks as they can with the wired Internet. Then there are wireless content, network management and homeland security issues, and the policy questions that beg whether federal intervention is warranted.
This has wireless executives – like some of their disgruntled customers – spewing fleeting expletives. But the wireless guys are mostly a smart bunch. They’ll adapt, knowing above all else that it would be abundantly stupid to gamble such a good thing away.