The Wireless Industry

1
The Wireless Industry

• Caroline Simard
• Com 137/237

2
History (http//www.privateline.com/PCS/history4.
htm)

• The Photophone, 1880
• An early attempt!
• 1888 discovery by
• Heinrich Hertz that electricity
• travels in waves through the
• atmosphere
• Marconi development
• of radio and telegraph
• 1894-1901

3
History (cont)

• Marconis wireless telegraph, 1901 and Ericssons
  car telephone

4
History

• Mobile radios, 1920s
• Voice radio telephone, Bell Labs, 1924

5
History (cont)

• 1927 Radio Act
• Spectrum regulated
• ATT 1946 mobile radio service
• Cellular Bell Lab invention DH Ring
• Monopoly context

6
History

• 1950s little mobile radio RD ? spectrum policy
• 1964 ATT introduces IMTS
• 1967 NTT proposes nation wide cellular phone
  system for Japan
• 1967 Nokia group formed
• 1972 - Bell Labs patent for cellular tech
  approved 6 year delay before the FCC lets ATT
  trial

7
Regulatory and competitive pressures for cellular
emergence

• Radio-telephony fight from the radio common
  carriers
• Push for equal access competition
• ATT trial approval

8
Cellular
9
Cellular (2)

• Higher frequency ? equipment more costly but
  smaller antennas
• More subject to blocking but penetrate walls more
  easily
• Best for urban areas where building penetration
  and high levels of frequency reuse necessary
• Lower frequency
• Better for covering wide areas where frequency
  reuse is not as important

10
The impact of the breakup

• 1982/1984 ATT Breakup liberalization trend
• Cellular allocated to RBOCs split of markets
• Only Pacific Telesis Airtouch pursues cellular
  (spinoff)

11
Standard Evolution

• 1981 Nordic Mobile Telephone Service
• First multinational cell system
• GSM 1991 -- digital standard effort of
  national PTTs
• 1990s TDMA in US
• Telecom deregulation trends worldwide and
  increased competition

12
An industry driven by standards

• Standard evolution and path dependence
• AMPS 1st Generation
• ATT and Motorola trials in 1979
• GSM TDMA 2nd Generation (and 2.5G)
• TDMA improvement over AMPS path dependence
• GSM governmental and industry effort, 1987
• CDMA in various flavors 2.5 and 3 G
• A US driven effort (Qualcomm)
• 3G wars

13
Adoption and spectrum scarcity

• Mid 1990s spectrum for PCS auctioned
• More spectrum still needed for 3G

14
Regulatory Trends over time

• Reallocation of spectrum from government to
  nongovernmental uses
• Allocation of more spectrum for mobile rather
  than fixed applications
• Use of auctions to assign spectrum
• Increased licensee flexibility in use of spectrum
• Increased competition

15
Why the US lag?

• Innovation subjected to ATT decisions
• Competency Trap
• Timing of breakup
• Spectrum Policy
• Standard Policy
• US laissez-faire
• Europe government mandate

16
3G

• Standard Wars ? whose interests are at stake?
• What is the effect of licensing/auctioning versus
  using unlicensed spectrum?

17
Competing/complementary techs?

• Bluetooth
• WiFi (unlicensed UHF band)