Thursday, 21 November 2002 8:30 am
Finally, some very good news from the telecom sector, news that could create major new markets similar to what the PC did in the 1980’s and Internet did in the 1990’s, with the potential for major new services and “killer-apps”.  It is news that I have been waiting literally decades for.

Tuesday's issue of the Wall Street Journal reported that Sprint is now offering unlimited usage plans for its always-on nationwide wireless packet data service that can be used with laptops, tablets, and PDAs, and the price ($100/mo.) is within reach of professionals, business people, and “early-adopter” consumers. Verizon Wireless is also now offering a similarly priced package.  Although Sprint rolled out their nationwide wireless packet data services a few months ago, the usage charges were killers for the type of serious applications I have in mind.  These new unlimited usage rates will change everything.  (N.B.: I have no business relationship or affiliation with Sprint or Verizon, nor do I own their stocks.)

Like what, for example?  The obvious first users will be the road-warriors, whose laptops will now be always connected.  PDAs will finally be useful for most of us, because we always really wanted them to be communications devices.  All digital cameras will want to have a wireless data card as one of their features, so that casual photographers can instantly send their photos for processing (yes – most of them need the help of digital processing to look good, and some may need some customized human intervention as well).  Casual photography could be forever changed. 

Automobile makers: now you can finally create an information center in your autos that can offer a cornucopia of mobile services from shopping services to traffic management to weather radar to emergency services.  Boat owners will finally have access to all of the data that is already on the Internet, from nautical charts to real-time weather to Coast Guard alerts.

That’s only the beginning.  This new wireless data services will create a whole new market of information services targeted at mobile users.  Laptops, automobile computers, and boat computers will offer screen sizes and keyboards of sufficient size to make applications possible that are either impossible or uninteresting on two-inch cell phone displays and tiny keyboards.  The cell phones will simply become adjuncts to the larger devices, handy when you are not in a car or do not have your laptop along.

History indicates that the $100/mo. fee will come down over time.  At around $30-$40/mo., almost everybody will want to be connected through at least one device.