hen the receiver is picked up, anytime or anywhere, there will be dial tone. When a telephone number is dialed, there will be a connection. Perfect service was not a business case in the Bell System-it was a vision, it was a mandate, it was a commandment, and it was achieved! It was a great culture shock to admit that cellular systems would have an engineered blocking rate and lost- call rate, even if it was a very low 2 percent. Designing wireless telephone service as a business requires more flexibility than the old telephone company mandate of universal perfect service forever. Increasing quality is increasingly expensive, and the service provider has to weigh each increment of per- formance against its cost. For readers who used to work for the telephone company, we can console ourselves that evaluating quality and cost is our opportunity to offer good service at better prices. As we are writing this book in 2002, higher quality of wireless telephone service is a major feature being advertised on television in the United States with commercials making fun of the consequences of cellular static. Lower blocking rates, fewer lost calls, and better sound likely will continue to be used as differentiation in the wireless market. High data rates and high-quality service are really the two things a CDMA 3G provider can offer to attract subscribers. And when 3G is nearly universal, everybody will have the high data rates. On the other hand, availability of service may be the marketing route of some wire- less service providers. By covering more territory or offering lower rates than competi- tors, a provider may offer the market more benefit by reaching more subscribers. The combination of higher blocking rates and lower monthly rates may be a better business opportunity for some providers. Offering a service of lower cost and lower quality may make the most sense in a large wireless market where there are several providers. Managing subscriber expectations can make them happy to be paying less even if they have to t